Grand Championship
by MillenniumPrincess
Summary: A now reformed Kaiba invites his friends to take part in his newest tournament. It seems like fun at first, but things start to get personal as the competitors face their challenges to see how far they've come since their first journeys. Retelling and altering of the tournament with the addition of some of my own characters.
1. Invitation

Invitation

It seemed like forever since the whole gang had a peaceful day without the world being threatened by ancient evil forces. But Yugi and his friends needed the luxury to relax after all they had been through in the past few days. Everyone was back together in a lush plain on the mainland miles away from civilization.

The group stayed with Rebecca and her grandfather for the while so they could rest up. Duke, Tristan, and Joey were sound asleep in their chairs until Rebecca woke them up by beating on a frying pan. Tea looked around and saw that Yugi and Emily weren't in the trailer. She and Rebecca decided to look for them.

Yugi and Emily were sitting near the lake enjoying the scenery. The water was a nice, clear blue reflecting the sky and the leaves in the trees were gently rustling. "Finally, some peace and quiet for a change," said Yugi.

Emily yawned and stretched. "Yeah, after everything we've been through, it's nice to just kick back."

Their friend, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, agreed that they were finally having a normal day, but soon the thought became less pleasant. "But it seems that every time we restore peace to the world, a greater evil awaits."

Yugi and Emily understood his thoughts. "Think of it this way," Emily was saying, "each challenge and journey brings us one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of your ancient past."

Yugi takes the three Egyptian God cards and looks at them. "She's right, and we can finally pick up where we left off. As soon as we get home, we're going straight to the museum." So it was decided that the team would start making arrangements to return home to Domino.

Tea and Rebecca found Yugi and Emily and told them that everyone was having brunch now. So they all went back to the trailer and sat down for some pasta and bread. "Thank you for the meal, Professor," said Emily.

Arthur accepted her thanks and said, "There's plenty more if you kids want to stay."

Yugi kindly refused. "Thanks, Professor, but we really should be getting back home."

Rebecca didn't like the sound of that. "How can you leave when I haven't gotten a chance to see your powers?"

Duke agreed. "It's too soon. You guys should stick around."

Even Tea liked being out in the plains. "What do you say? It is kind of nice."

Joey swallowed his drink and took his turn. "Give me one good reason why we should leave." While everyone was debating on the matter, Arthur dismissed himself to answer his cell phone.

"For my father," Emily replied.

Everyone was confused at her reply, but soon realized what she meant. "I understand," said Tea. "You guys have more important things to do."

Yami appreciated that Yugi and Emily were considering the promise to carry out their task, but figured there wouldn't be any harm in waiting a little longer. "Yugi, Emily, I've waited five thousand years to learn about the mysteries of my ancient past. I really don't think another day or two is going to hurt."

They were surprised to hear him say that. With that being settled, Yugi and Emily agreed with the others to stick around a while longer. Everyone was happy to hear that.

After brunch, the friends went back to the lake. Joey and Yugi decided to stretch their wings and fly around. Joey got the idea of doing something crazy with Yugi like doing a high-five with their wings while in their air, but Yugi told him it was dangerous. Emily was now strong enough to carry Rebecca on her back, so she gave her a ride as she flew around the lake. The younger blonde laughed and cheered like she was riding a roller coaster. Duke was lounging in the hammock reading a small book while Tristan was making rocks skip across the water and Tea was sitting near the water.

Rebecca was exhilarated and wanted Emily to do more like display her magic. Joey and Yugi stopped flying around and decided they had enough. Even though Duke was glad to know that the gang would be sticking around, he was curious and wanted to ask them, "When is your flight home anyway?" Everyone looks at each other in silence. Not hearing a response, Duke wonders, "Someone did make plans, right?"

"Well, actually," Emily stammered.

"Pegasus flew us here," said Joey. "We can't afford a return flight."

"Oh, no," Duke moaned.

"You're kidding me," Tristan snapped. "And you didn't think of this before?"

"Obviously it didn't occur to you either," Joey countered.

Before the group started to think that they were hopelessly stranded, they looked up and saw a helicopter. They recognized that it was one of Kaiba's choppers and they even saw him coming out. Before the helicopter lands, Kaiba unfolds his wings and flies down to his friends. "Hey, guys. Miss me?" For once, they were actually happy to see him. Joey tries to run up to him to high-five him, but Kaiba catches him in his arm and uses his free hand to scratch Joey's head. When the chopper finally lands, Mokuba jumps out, which makes Rebecca very excited to see him.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Emily asks Kaiba.

"I came looking for you," he answers. "It looks like you guys could use a lift. Want me to take you home in style?"

It sounded too good to be true. Kaiba wouldn't make such a generous offer even if he was a changed man. "What's the catch?" Joey asks.

Kaiba thought he'd never ask. "In exchange for the door-to-door service, you'll have to enter my new dueling tournament." He decided to explain all the details back at the trailer. They all gathered around the picnic table and Kaiba decided to get down to business. "Tell me, have you guys heard about our latest theme park?"

"Who hasn't heard about KaibaLand?" Rebecca asked. "It's only been in every newspaper."

"Then you know it's about to open," Kaiba tells her. "And I want to kick things off with a bang." Although Kaiba managed to get back his company, his reputation was still in a bad disposition. That was when Mokuba got the idea to celebrate the opening of their theme park with the biggest event; something that would attract the attention of every reporter. Kaiba liked the idea and decided that the event would be a new tournament. But not just any tournament. A tournament that would give challengers the right to challenge the King of Games for the championship crown: the KC Grand Championship. So the tournament contracts were built and organizations for the tournament were set underway and the Kaiba brothers began scouring the globe for the top-ranked duelists in the world. All they needed now was the world champion.

Yugi and Joey were amazed with that they were hearing. It sounded like it would be the tournament of the millennium. Kaiba just hoped it would be the biggest thing since Battle City. As exciting as this all sounded, there was a downside to it. Kaiba would not be participating this time. He's had his hands tied and has been working so hard to get his company back under control as well as opening up his theme park. Though Kaiba was one of the world's greatest duelists, he didn't have a choice. It wasn't an easy decision, but nothing's easy when you're president of a major corporation and trying to bring something great into the world.

But his friends understood and decided to help him. Not to boost his public image, but because he was a friend in need. And Kaiba was helping his friends as well by getting them back home. Even Yami agreed to accept taking part in the tournament. So Yugi spoke for himself and for the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. "Wow, the greatest duelists from all over the world. How could I say 'no'? Kaiba, you can count me in!"

Kaiba was happy to hear him say that. "You mean it?"

Yugi nods. "Of course. I'd never turn away from a friend."

Joey agreed. "If you're counting Yugi in, you're asking for me too, right?"

"What about me? I'm the youngest regional champion to play the game," Rebecca boasted. "Plus, anywhere Mokuba goes, I go too."

Kaiba reaches into his coat pocket and brings out three envelopes containing invitations. "It just so happens that I have these invitations here. I have one for Yugi, one for Joey, and one for you, Emily."

Emily was surprised to hear that Kaiba would have an invitation for her. "But Kaiba, I'm not an elite duelist. I've never even entered a tournament before."

"Maybe, but after witnessing your skills and strength back at the temple, I have to admit, I was impressed with the courage you displayed. I think you've got what it takes," Kaiba tells her. "Besides, Yugi taught you everything you know."

"Yeah, but I'm not as good as Yugi is."

Kaiba knew Emily wasn't being modest, but he wanted to give her a chance against the big leagues. If she could beat someone like Dartz, then there's no reason why she shouldn't be able to stand a chance against top-ranked duelists. "Don't worry," he says, setting his hand on her shoulder. "You'll be okay. I trust in my friends."

Emily was feeling anxious, but in a good way now. This would be her first tournament. It was nerve-wracking, but it was also exciting. She accepted Kaiba's offer and agreed to take part in the tournament.

Now that everything was settled, Kaiba decided it was time to take his friends to KaibaLand. So everyone boarded his helicopter and left the plains.


	2. Underdogs and Trainees

Underdogs and Trainees

It didn't take long for the helicopter to reach the amusement park. Looking out the window, Yugi and his friends were amazed to see all the different rides and stands. "It's huge," Joey said in amazement. He was sighing so much that the window was fogging up.

Rebecca faces Mokuba and asks him, "You wouldn't happen to have a tunnel of love, would you?"

He faces her and replies, "Well, we've got plenty of rides built for two." That was enough to make Rebecca squeal. Not only would Mokuba get to show her around the theme park, but he would also get to ride with her.

Kaiba brought his friends to the gate and was ready to give them the grand tour. "I thought you said the park wasn't open yet," Emily said, seeing families everywhere and children riding and playing games.

"It isn't. These are special guests," Kaiba tells her. He turns around and grins. "Oh, and did I mention every ride is free until opening day?"

Joey and Tristan were excited to hear that. They wanted to try all the extreme rides like the roller coasters. Tea and Emily couldn't stand to see that they weren't going to control their enthusiasm anymore. They even complained that they needed more female friends.

Then the group heard some familiar voices. "Hey, Yugi! Guys!" Yugi and the others looked and saw the three rivals they once fought against to save the world: Rafael, Alister, and Valon. Alister was wearing a blue sweater with a beige vest and navy blue jeans, Valon was wearing a white t-shirt with a red jacket and jeans, Rafael appeared more casual with black pants, a black shirt and a purple leather jacket.

"Hey, fancy meeting you guys here," said Joey.

"Well, we heard about the opening of KaibaLand and figured it'd be fun to check out," said Valon. After Dartz was defeated, the three bikers decided to start over and begin new lives for themselves. They've been wandering around for some time until they heard about the opening of Kaiba's theme park and that he was also hosting a new tournament.

"It's sure nice to see you all again," said Emily.

Valon agreed. "We missed you blokes."

Rafael puts his arms over Emily and starts hugging her. "I missed you the most." Yugi didn't like what he was seeing. Joey and Tristan and Duke watched nervously. Sure enough, Rafael's crush on Emily had not faded.

"Umm, thanks, I think," Emily groaned. "Can you let go now please? That kind of hurts." Rafael eases his grip and lets her go. He had to remember to take it easy. It kind of made some of the people passing by think that Rafael was one of those jolly relatives smothering his distant relative because he was more than twice Emily's size.

They say 'the more, the merrier,' so Kaiba said it was all right for the three bikers to come along. The trio was actually hoping to meet up with the gang anyway. They hoped that since they were no longer enemies, perhaps they could start over and be friends. Joey already liked the sound of that matter. He and Valon decided to let bygones be bygones and agreed that they could be friends. Alister learned the truth about what happened to his family and quickly settled his affairs with Kaiba and apologized for what he put him through. The brunette easily forgave the redhead. The past was behind the both of them and they could start over as friends. Yugi wanted to be friends with Rafael, but he couldn't help but feel jealous for his crush on Emily. But he hoped the jealousy wouldn't last and Rafael would soon get over his crush. Yami assured Yugi that things would be all right and Rafael was a good person. He believed that he wouldn't do anything reckless. Rafael wanted to be friends with Yugi too, but he wouldn't give up on trying to win Emily's heart.

The last site of the tour was the duel dome. It was a stadium with a single dueling arena called the KC Duel Tech 760. Right now, the arena was open to duelists who wanted to have practice matches. Kids were lining up for a chance to try out the decks they constructed. "This is our state-of-the-art Duel Monsters platform," said Mokuba.

An adolescent named Luke was having a practice duel against the opposing computer. His reptilian beast attacked Blade Knight. The computer activated a magic card called Scapegoat, which confused Luke because the computer still had Battle Ox in play and had more life points. But Kaiba and Mokuba knew what was going on, so they told their friends to watch. For its next move, the computer revealed the trap DNA Surgery, turning every monster on the field into a dragon-type monster. Next, it activated Polymerization, merging Battle Ox and the four lamb tokens together to form Five-Headed Dragon.

"Poor Luke," said Emily. "Nothing can beat that monster."

Kaiba shakes his head. "Not a chance. The dueling robot was programmed to mimic the strategies of the greatest duelists in the world. Its deck is programmed to be constructed in the same way of every duelist we have information on. We've imported my deck and Yugi's too."

"But what fun is it to play against a computer that always wins?" Alister asked.

"We thought about that," said Mokuba, "so we let players choose from one of five levels ranging from beginner to expert."

"What an awesome way for kids to practice dueling and improve their skills," said Emily. "If Luke keeps practicing, he'll be a winner in no time."

Kaiba faces Emily and suggests, "Briar, do you want to have a few practice rounds before the tournament? It might help you feel prepared."

"Yeah, thanks! I'll go right after Luke."

Luke left the arena, but he wasn't too upset that he lost. He played well; he just set the level a little too high. Soon some of the kids took notice of Yugi and Rebecca and began asking for autographs. Joey asked if anyone wanted his autograph too, but none of them seemed to recognize him. Kaiba was more than happy to give a few autographs himself.

One boy with red violet hair and amber eyes named Leon was ecstatic to see Yugi. "I can't believe it's you! I've been a fan of yours since Duelist Kingdom!" Flattered to hear that, Yugi shakes Leon's hand.

Another boy named Rick managed to get to the center of the crowd. He asked Yugi to take a look at his deck and help him. "No matter what I do, I can't seem to win a duel."

As Yugi looked through Rick's cards, he saw the problem right away. "There's nothing but Dragons."

Rick nods. "Dragons are my favorite. I traded all my magic and trap cards to get the best ones."

Kaiba liked hearing that someone else was passionate about Dragons, but he had to be honest. "Dragons are impressive and totally awesome, but you'll never win with a deck like this." With such a smart attitude, Kaiba's element should have been honesty. That was what Joey thought.

But Yugi said differently. "It's obvious you value your cards, and that respect is going to take you far. But you also need to balance your deck with magic and trap cards." Joey agreed. That was one of the first lessons he learned when he started dueling. Yugi reaches into his pocket and gives Rick a magic card called Heart of the Underdog. "It reminds me of a good friend and I'd like you to have it."

Excited, Rick decides to see what the card can do by dueling the computer. He went to the arena and decided to fight at level two. Though Emily said she wanted to have a chance to duel, she decided to watch Rick. Everything was set, but before the duel could begin, the lights in the stadium suddenly went out. Mokuba went to the arena to try to investigate the problem. Either the power went out or there was a glitch in the system. But Kaiba claimed that the company had the best antiviral software and backup systems.

The arena rebooted and was running again. But all the exits began to seal themselves. "It's not responding," Mokuba said as he was trying to run the controls. "I've lost control."

"Let me see, Mokuba," Rebecca said and connected her laptop to the hardware. "According to this analysis, your computerized card shark is being controlled by an outside party. But we're not dealing with any ordinary hacker. This is a high-in job!"

"Who would do this?" Mokuba asked. "It's just a theme park attraction!"

Alister had an assumption. "My guess is that they're using it to get something that they want from you."

"What makes them think it's going to work?" Mokuba asked.

"Because they have our attention," his brother answered. "And I'm afraid there's only one solution to this. The only way to stop the computer is to defeat it in a duel."

But Rick wouldn't have a chance. He was just a beginner and the worst part was the computer set itself to the highest level. It made the first move by summoning Berserk Gorilla, a beast with 2000 attack points. It also played a card face down, ending its turn.

Emily decided not to wait around anymore. Rick was scared and didn't know what to do, so she climbed up to the platform. "Rick, would it be all right if I dueled in your place?"

"Um, sure," he replied.

"Thanks. I promise I'll do my best. Believe in me and in your cards because I do too." She had to duel using Rick's deck because they were on the playing field. Besides, this would make a good practice duel. She was familiar with the cards she saw in his deck, but she needed to unlock the power of the card Yugi gave him.

"Go, Emily," Yugi cheered.

"We're all behind you," Rafael encouraged.

"I hope Emily will be okay," Alister sighed. "Actually, I'm more worried about who's controlling your computer."

Kaiba agrees. "We do have a lot of dangerous enemies."

"Still," Valon was saying. "Who'd be crazy enough to hack into a system and trap all these innocent kiddies?"

All of the children started crying, saying they wanted their parents to come to their rescue. Tea helped calm them down by assuring them that everything would be all right.

Emily appreciated everyone's encouragement, but with Rick's deck of Dragons against a machine opponent, this wouldn't be easy. But she had to believe in the cards because Rick believed in them as well. That was why he constructed his deck this way. For now, she summoned Petite Dragon in defense mode. The computer played Cost Down to lower the level of the monsters in its hand by two; allowing it to summon Airknight Parshath. Its hidden trap was revealed to be Robbin' Goblin. Now every time damage would be dealt to Emily's life points, she would lose a card from her hand. Though Petite Dragon was in defense mode, Emily still lost life points because of Airknight Parshath's special ability, causing her to lose 1200 life points and forcing her to send one card to the graveyard. The computer was also allowed to draw one card. Berserk Gorilla dealt 2000 points of damage and Emily was forced to discard another card from her hand.

Rick was starting to feel like this was his fault. "If it weren't for my Dragon deck, you would be winning."

Emily turns around and smiles in a reassuring way. "Be patient. Your deck is strong. You put your heart into it and you're supporting me through your cards."

"So there's still a chance that we may win?"

She nods. _In order to unlock the power of Rick's deck, I need to draw the card Yugi gave him._ She places her fingertips on the top of the deck and draws her card. To her surprise, it's a magic card called Dragon Treasure. This gives her an idea. She summons Luster Dragon in attack mode. It had only 1900 attack points, but when equipped with Dragon Treasure, it became 300 attack and defense points stronger. Luster Dragon's Breath of Fire incinerated Airknight Parshath and dealt 300 points of damage to the computer.

The computer recovered the Sinister Serpent it discarded last turn when it had a full hand. Next, it summoned Slate Warrior and sent it to attack Luster Dragon. It costed the computer 300 life points, but the monster responsible for destroying Slate Warrior would lose 500 attack and defense points. Now Luster Dragon was vulnerable to attack. Berserk Gorilla attacked Luster Dragon and Emily lost 300 life points, dropping her down to 500 life points and causing her to discard another card.

There was nothing left to do but wait. To protect her life points. Emily summoned the Dragon Dwelling in the Cave in defense mode. It had 2000 defense points and she hoped it would be enough to protect her. The computer sacrificed Berserk Gorilla to summon Jinzo. Now all trap cards were useless even to the cardholder. So Robbin' Goblin was sent to the graveyard. After that, Jinzo attacked the Dragon with Cyber Energy Shock.

This was Emily's last chance to turn things around. She believed in Rick's cards and her belief came through as she drew Heart of the Underdog. She summons Baby Dragon in defense mode and plays the magic card.

"I don't get it," said Joey. "What's that Underdog card?"

All of his friends around him started snickering. "If anyone should know, it should be you," Kaiba smartly stated, trying to hold back his snickering.

"Way to go, Emily," Yugi cheered.

The computer makes its move by summoning Sinister Serpent in attack mode. Before attacking with the Serpent, Jinzo destroys Baby Dragon. Finally, the Serpent deals 300 points of damage to Emily's life points. Emily draws her card. "I summon Spirit Ryu in attack mode. Next, I activate the magic of Heart of the Underdog. Now I can draw a card from my deck and if it's a monster card, then I can draw again and the cycle continues." So she drew from her deck and got Curse of Dragon, Koumori Dragon, Winged Dragon and Guardian of the Fortress, Crawling Dragon, Blackland Fire Dragon, and Hyozanryu. "Spirit Ryu gains 1000 attack points for every Dragon I send from my hand to the graveyard and I count six. Now my Spirit Ryu has 7000 attack points. Now, my Spirit, destroy Jinzo with Sonic Flash attack!"

And with that, the duel came to an end. The lights were back on and the exits were unlocked. Everyone was free. "You were awesome," Rick said to Emily. "Thanks a lot."

She shakes her head. "In the end, it was your deck that came through for us. You believed in your cards, Rick, and that belief will take you far." Soon all of Rick's friends surrounded him, telling him what an awesome deck he had and wanting to trade their cards for some of his Dragons.

Kaiba admitted he was impressed. This proved to him that Emily did have what it would take to compete in the Grand Championship. "Nicely done, Briar. Now I know you'll do great in the tournament."

"You mean it? Thanks!" Emily was happy to hear him complement her. But she decided to have a few more practice duels.

He smiles and nods. "Look, guys, I got to head back and figure out what caused this mess. I'll meet you at the main hall where I'll be announcing the start of the tournament. Don't be late for registration or you'll be disqualified."

"We'll be there," Yugi promises, and Kaiba heads out.

Joey pulls Yugi close to him. "About that Underdog card, you said it reminded you of someone. Who, exactly?" When Yugi didn't answer, Joey pressed further and said, "Everyone seems to think the card reminds you of me."

"They do, huh?" Yugi sheepishly asked. "Well, let me think of how to put this. That card reminds me of you, Joey, because even when the odds are against you, you always pull through." So Joey managed to settle down because something good came from it. But everyone else was still having a few laughs about it.


	3. New Friends and Rivals

New Friends and Rivals

The team made it to the main hall where they could register for the tournament. They didn't expect it to be so crowded. Mokuba said that they wanted to grab the attention of every reporter in the country so they could fix their company's reputation. There were television reporters and interviewers almost everywhere. Tristan and Joey fooled around a little bit with the cameramen in hopes of getting seen on TV. Even Duke couldn't resist putting himself on screen for the viewers.

Rather than embarrass herself like the guys, Emily decided to fix herself a plate of dinner. Before she could help herself, a tall ebony-haired Asian girl bumped into her. "Hey, Thumbelina, the kiddie park's closed." she said rudely.

"I beg your pardon?" Emily asked.

Tea came to her and asked. "Are you okay, Emily?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "I guess she didn't see me when she was walking by."

The Asian girl took notice of Yugi and went to him. "You're Yugi Muto! I recognize that adorable spikey hair anywhere!" She introduced herself as Vivian Wong, but insisted that she be called Viv for short. "Listen, I know once the competition starts, you and I are going to be arch rivals. But that doesn't mean we can't be buddies when we're off the playing field, right?" Without giving Yugi a chance to speak, Vivian begins hugging him. This made the bikers stare with wide eyes as they were eating.

Tea and Emily growled at the sight. "Hey, leave him alone," Emily demanded. Vivian was about to tell Emily to back off, but she took notice of Kaiba and was about to go all fangirl on him too. "What's the deal with her?" Emily said, watching Vivian run off. Then she heard her name being called.

"Hi, Emily."

She turns around and sees Leon. "You're Leon, right? What are you doing here?"

"I'm in the KC Grand Championship," he answered.

"Really? Me too. Kaiba's a friend of mine and he personally invited me."

Leon was amazed to hear that. "That's cool. You must be a good duelist. I would assume that after watching your duel back there."

Emily's cheeks were turning red. "I'm not that good. This is my first tournament, to be honest. But Yugi did teach me everything I know about the game. I guess I want to show him how much I've learned."

"Well, I've dreamed of one day dueling Yugi since Duelist Kingdom," said Leon.

"Well, you never know. It could happen."

Leon nods. "Let's both give it our best, okay?" Emily agrees and shakes Leon's hand.

Finally, the last challenger came by to register. It was a man with light pink hair and aquamarine eyes and was wearing a magenta suit. "Pardon my intrusion. Traffic was a nightmare," he said, speaking with a Viennese accent. "I'm Zigfried."

"I don't care who you are," Kaiba snapped. "You show some respect if you want to stick around." Zigfried just grinned.

It was now time to announce the names of the challengers now that they were present. Aside from Leon, Emily, Joey, and Zigfried, there were twelve other duelists each from different corners of the world. Emily and Vivian glared at each other, knowing there would be a great rivalry between them. It was decided that whichever one of the sixteen duelists would come out on top would earn the privilege of dueling Yugi for the championship title.

While some reporters were interviewing the challengers and taking their pictures, Mokuba called Rebecca over and said he needed to talk to her.

"What's up, Mokuba?" Rebecca asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you the same thing," he replies. "Are you mad that my brother didn't choose you to take part in the tournament?" Rebecca admitted that she was pretty mad, but she quickly got over it. She admitted that what she really wanted to do more was hang out with Mokuba. The young boy was relieved to hear that. "Becca, I have something I need to tell you."

"Sure. What is it?"

Mokuba rubs the back of his head and clears his throat. "I wanted to thank you for your help today for analyzing the problem back at the arena."

"Don't mention it," Rebecca replied. "You would've done the same thing. Besides, I like using my high-tech brain for problems like the one we faced today."

They both began chuckling. "I like that about you, Rebecca. You're a real whiz kid and you know all the ins and outs of computers."

Rebecca returned the compliment. "So do you and I like that."

"Yeah, but I'm not perfect or even any good as you are," Mokuba confessed. "And I know I'm the brother of one of the world's greatest duelists, but I'm not as good at the game as he is." He sighs and tells her, "Rebecca, I'm not strong or brave. I may not be as smart or clever or brilliant as you. But…" he finally comes clean and says, "I really like you, Rebecca."

Rebecca's eyes barely widened. "You mean, as a friend or a champion duelist or-?"

"No, I mean _like_ you, like you," he clarified, "for just being you." Feeling his heart racing, he gulps and tells her, "Now I have something ridiculous to ask: will you be my girlfriend?"

Rebecca felt her heart racing as well. She smiles and says, "It's not a ridiculous question. I was waiting for you to ask me. And you know, I really like you too, Mokuba. So of course I will."

This was the happiest either of the youngsters ever felt. They slowly walk towards each other and gently grasp hands. Mokuba leans his head down against Rebecca's and they both sigh romantically.


	4. Let the Games Begin

Let the Games Begin

The next morning, sparks were flying and it was time to announce the start of the tournament. Mokuba went to the top of the stage with a dramatic entrance of appearing through some white smoke. He speaks to the crowd through his microphone and says, "So are you people ready to get your dueling on? I can't hear you! I said, are you ready to see some dueling or what?" In answer, the crowd cheers as loud as they can.

"Good, because it's time to kick off the greatest Duel Monsters tournament ever organized!" Mokuba tells them. Seeing Rebecca waving at him from the sidelines, he waves back at her. "Before the week is through, we may have a new international Duel Monsters champion. So give it up for the current title holder Yugi Muto!"

Yugi felt nervous seeing his image on screen and hearing the crowd echo his name. It couldn't be helped. He was shy-natured, after all. Pretty ironic for the hero of courage. Mokuba figured all the fans could wait until Yugi would be ready to say something later. For now, it was time to announce the first duels of the tournament. Joey would be the first duelist in round one facing off against a strange masked man named Apdnarg Otum. In the second duel of the tournament, Leon would be facing off against a chief surgeon named Richard. Yugi and his friends didn't know what it was, but something about Apdnarg seemed familiar to them.

"Before the duels get underway, there's someone we all want to hear from," said Mokuba. "Yugi, come on up here and say a few words!"

Yugi still couldn't bring up the courage to speak, let alone get up from the sidelines, but Yami encouraged him that he could do it. Rafael even gave him a gentle shove. "You can't let your fans down. Go on."

Finally, Yugi managed to get out of his seat, but he still wasn't sure what to say. Nervously, he waves to the audience and tells them, "Hello, KaibaLand!"

"Uh, Yugi, I meant come up on stage," Mokuba clarified, seeing that no one could really hear him. Yugi carefully walks up the steps, but before he can try again, everyone looks up and sees Kaiba coming out of his helicopter. Kaiba jumps and carefully lands using his jet pack strapped to his back. He could've shown his wings off, but he didn't want the general public to see him as some kind of mutant freak. He clears his throat, gesturing for his brother to give him the microphone. Mokuba gives it to him so he can speak to the crowd.

"All right, I'm gonna make this brief. This is not a show. It's the ultimate test of survival and it will push everyone involved to their limits. If you came for a friendly game, then I suggest you go home. This is a ruthless battle and in the end, only one duelist will remain standing. Now if everyone's clear, then let's move on. From this moment on, KaibaLand is a battlefield. So trust no one and may the best duelist win!" Hearing the audience cheer his name, Kaiba raises his arm and holds the microphone in the air. _I know one of these punks is out to ruin me and before this tournament is through, I'm going to find out who,_ he wonders to himself.

Leon went to his designated part of the theme park for his first duel. It was located near the roller coaster. Joey was supposed to be at the amazon adventure part of the theme park, but he was still in the arena having a quick lunch. Mokuba warned him that if he didn't make it to the amazon adventure trail in the next ten minutes, he would be disqualified. Joey figured it would be a breeze to get there within the allotted time, so he quickly went on his way.

This wouldn't really be as easy as he assumed. The amazon adventure trail was a 15 square mile virtual jungle, but Joey liked doing things his way without thinking. It was hard getting through obstacles like pitfalls, wobbly bridges, boulder balls, and holographic jungle creatures.

With five seconds to spare, Joey made it to the designated dueling site where Mokuba and Rebecca were waiting. "Wait a minute," Joey said as he was catching his breath. "How'd you guys get here before I did?"

"Mokuba tried to tell you that there was a secret passage for special guests, but you ran off like a lunatic," Rebecca reprimanded.

"No, it's not fair," Joey whined, telling them what he put himself through. But at least he made it on time. The rest of his friends caught up with him.

"Joey Wheeler," said Apdnarg. "It looks like the student is finally going to face his dueling instruct- I mean, it's time to teach you a lesson, kid!"

Listening to his voice, Tea tells Yugi, "That mystery duelist looks just like your grandpa."

He tells her that she's right and it is him.

Tristan and the others were confused. "Why the disguise?"

That was when Professor Hawkins came by to explain things. He tried to tell his old friend not to go through with the idea of dueling, but Solomon wouldn't listen. He made up his mind to join the tournament. Now everyone else except Joey knew who the masked duelist was. The blonde was still occupied with shuffling his opponent's deck. Duke wondered if it would be best to tell Joey to go easy on his opponent, but Yugi had a feeling his grandpa would be all right.

Mokuba was just as concerned. The truth was Solomon wasn't invited to take part in the tournament. He pleaded for the Kaiba brothers to let him compete. The only reason they let him was because they remembered that Solomon taught Yugi everything about Duel Monsters.

Joey makes the first move by summoning Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode and playing two cards face down. Solomon makes the same move by playing two cards face down and summoning a monster in attack mode. It was Wandering Mummy, a corpse with 1500 attack points. Joey summons Little-Winguard in attack mode, but decides to attack with Swordsman of Landstar. He knows his monster is three times weaker than Wandering Mummy, which is why his first hidden Card is Graceful Dice. But Solomon had a feeling Joey would try to make that move, which was why one of his hidden cards was a trap called Legendary Gambler. A dice card for a dice card. If Solomon's die would come out with a higher roll than Joey's, then the effect of the blonde's card would be canceled out. Graceful Dice resulted in a four and Solomon's die landed with a six. Joey activates his second card Skull Dice, which activates Legendary Gambler's effect a second time. Joey got a five, but Solomon got a six again. And because Joey attacked a monster stronger than his, he lost a thousand life points. To end his turn, Joey switches Little-Winguard to defense mode.

Solomon reveals his second hidden card. It's a trap called Non-Aggression Area, letting him discard one card from his hand and preventing Joey from summoning any monsters on his next move. Next, Solomon plays a magic card called Mirage of Nightmare, letting him draw from his deck until he's holding four cards. To end his turn, he plays a card face down. Joey draws from his deck, but knows he can't summon a monster thanks to Solomon's trap. But before he can take his turn, Mirage of Nightmare activates, letting Solomon draw three cards from his deck. He's required to discard three cards on his next turn as a price for using that card, but he doesn't have to pay that price thanks to his Emergency Provisions magic card. Now by sending one magic or trap card from his side of the field to the graveyard, not only would Solomon get to keep the cards he drew, but he would also gain a thousand life points.

It was Solomon's turn again and he played a field spell called Ancient City. As its name suggests, an Ancient City appears behind him. Next, he sacrifices his Wandering Mummy so he can summon Ancient Giant, a golem with 2200 attack points. The cost of having Ancient Giant in play was to attack. If Solomon didn't attack with his Ancient Giant, he would lose 300 life points. Before attacking, Solomon plays a magic card called Ancient Key and a Key places itself in the lock on the City's gate and brings forth two Stone Giants. And like the Ancient Giant, the tokens will each take 500 of Solomon's life points if he doesn't attack with them. Ancient Giant attacks Little-Winguard and the Stone Giants deal 800 points of damage to Joey's life points.

Now that Solomon's Non-Aggression Area trap had expired, Joey was free to summon monsters again. He summoned Goblin Attack Force. But before he could attack, Solomon revealed another trap called Ordeal of a Traveler. Now Solomon has to pick one card from his hand and Joey has to guess if it's a monster, spell, or trap card. And it would stay that way every time Joey wanted to declare an attack because Ordeal of a Traveler was a continuous trap card. Joey assumes the card Solomon's holding is a trap, but his guess is poor. The card turns out to be Sinister Serpent and because Joey guessed incorrectly, he had to call off his attack and withdraw his Goblins back to his hand. Joey couldn't attack, but he could still protect himself by playing a card face down.

Ancient Giant was about to attack Joey directly, but the blonde saved himself by playing Scapegoat and summoning four lamb tokens. Rather than attack with his Stone Giants, Solomon plays a magic card called Ancient Tome. Joey assumes he's free to attack next turn now that Solomon's only got Sinister Serpent in his hand, but Ancient Tome allows Solomon to swap the card in his hand for another card from his deck. Knowing it'll cost him a thousand life points, Solomon ends his turn by switching his Stone Giants to defense mode. Joey had to start thinking his moves carefully. He knows he has to guess what card Solomon his holding if he wants to attack, but he knows an incorrect guess will cause him to call back whatever monster he wants to attack with. And his lamb tokens won't last long either. So he summons Goblin Attack Force and decides not to attack this turn. A smart decision on his part.

Solomon drew Sinister Serpent from his deck and decided to send it to the graveyard to keep his Ancient Tome in play. This activated Sinister Serpent's special ability, allowing it to return to Solomon's hand. He was now ready to make his greatest move. The first thing he does is switch his Stone Giants back into attack mode. Now he can use them along with his Ancient Tome and Ancient Key to unlock the Ancient Gate. Finally, by sacrificing his Ancient Giant, Ancient Gate, and Ancient Tome, he is able to bring forth Ancient Dragon, the ruler of the Ancient City and a Dragon with 2800 attack points.

Everyone was surprised to see such an amazing beast, but no one was more thrilled than Arthur. "You know, Yugi, your grandfather's not the only one with that card." To explain what he means, Arthur takes out his deck and shows everyone that he has an Ancient Dragon too. "I've never been able to summon it because I don't have all the necessary components. In fact, your grandfather is the only duelist I know who possesses all seven cards needed to call forth this divine creature. So I hope you kids appreciate the rare event you just witnessed."

It was a rare privilege indeed. The cards Solomon played were some of the rarest and most difficult cards in the game to acquire. Over the years, Arthur and Solomon had friendly competitions of sorts trying to acquire cards like those of the Ancient category. They both acquired Ancient Dragon, Ancient City, Ancient Tome, Ancient Giant, and the two Stone Giants. The last card was Ancient Gate and Solomon managed to find it. Now he could summon the Ancient Dragon. And when he heard about the KC Grand Championship, he knew this would be the perfect opportunity for such an occasion.

It was because of this matter that Arthur changed his mind about Solomon dueling. He wanted to see the Ancient Dragon in action. Plus, he remembered how much dueling meant to his old friend and that it made him feel young and cheerful again. Sure enough, Solomon was a kid at heart for enjoying the game he loves.

The Ancient Dragon's Legendary Flame not only destroyed Joey's Goblin Attack Force, but it also destroyed his three remaining lamb tokens. It had the ability to destroy all defending monsters on Joey's side of the field whenever it attacked any monster. Now Joey was down to 1700 life points. "I'll never let you win," said Joey. "This tournament's my chance to finally make it big and get some respect like Yugi gets. That's why I gotta be number one."

Yugi hears him and offers some words of advice. "Joey, try to lighten up a little bit. You're so caught up in winning the duel, you forgot about what's important; to have fun."

"But this is serious, Yuge."

"It's not a big deal, Joey," Alister tells him. "There's nothing at stake for you. It's just a cheap effort for KaibaCorp to get publicity."

Mokuba didn't like what Alister said. "You realize that I'm standing right next to you, right?"

Rebecca agreed. "Don't talk about my boyfriend's company that way!"

"Just be yourself out there," Tea encouraged.

It was bringing tears to Solomon's eyes. "You kids are so supportive. I'm so proud of you all," he sobs, placing his handkerchief against his eyes.

Joey was confused. "You're proud? What are you talking about, Apdnarg?" Solomon pulls himself together and puts his handkerchief in his pocket. "Now let's get back to the duel. And from now on, you're not gonna be the only one having fun."

"That's it," Rafael cheered. "So what if Apdnarg is more skilled than you?"

Joey turns around and tells him, "I appreciate you helping me out and all, but I think that's enough motivation." He decides to give his luck another shot by playing Roll of Fate. Now he would be able to draw cards from his hand depending on what the roll of the die would result in. He would also have to give up the same number of cards from his hand. But Legendary Gambler was still in play, so his move would only work if he got a higher number than Solomon. Joey's roll results in a four and Solomon's roll results in a three, meaning Joey can use his magic card's effect and draw four cards. One card is Landstar Forces, allowing him to summon as many Landstar monsters he's holding from his hand to the field. He summons Brigadier of Landstar, Grappler of Landstar, and Knight of Landstar. And now that he has three monsters on the field, Joey can sacrifice them to summon Gilford the Lightning. This activates his special ability to instantly destroy Solomon's Ancient Dragon regardless of attack points.

Ordeal of a Traveler was still in play, so before Gilford could officially attack, Joey had to guess what card Solomon was holding in his hand. But the blonde had been paying attention and remembered that the card was Sinister Serpent. And since he guessed correctly, he was free to attack Solomon directly and deal 2800 points of damage. But Ancient Dragon wouldn't be as gone as everyone thought. The power of Ancient City allowed Solomon to summon it back to the field even after it had been destroyed. Anyone should know a monster as special as Ancient Dragon can't be gotten rid of so easily. Gilford and Ancient Dragon had the same number of attack points, so the fight would result in a stalemate, but Ancient Dragon would return to the field after the end of the battle phase.

The first thing Joey does is play Pot of Greed to draw two cards from his deck. Looking at his hand, Joey sees the cards that might help him. One is Giant Trunade, which returns both players' spells and traps to their hands. But if Joey plays his cards right, he may be able to turn the duel around once again.

"Hey, Joey, don't think about it too hard or you'll hurt yourself," Valon told him.

"Keep your comments to yourself," Joey snapped. "I may not have a deck full of rare and special cards like you do or even plan out my strategies step by step," he tells Solomon, "but I think pretty quickly on my feet and I always trust my instincts no matter what. I guess that's because I had some good teachers and good friends to support me."

"Thank you," Solomon said softly. He clears his throat and says, "I mean, good for you."

Joey nods. "I was taught to play the game with my heart and above all, always have fun. And that's just what I'm doing. You ready, pal?"

"Fire away!"

The first card Joey plays is Premature Burial. For the price of 800 life points, he revives his Goblin Attack Force from the graveyard. Next, he plays Giant Trunade to send all magic and trap cards back to the players' hands. And since he got his Premature Burial back, he could pay 800 more life points to revive Gilford the Lightning. Now he was ready to attack and this time, nothing would stop him. And without the Ancient City, Ancient Dragon couldn't return to the field anymore. Gilford and the Dragon destroyed each other and Joey's Goblins took out the rest of Solomon's life points.

"Did Joey just win?" Alister asks.

"It would appear he did," Rafael answered.

Joey approaches Solomon and holds out his hand to help him back on his feet. "Nice duel, stranger. I just wish I knew who you were."

Solomon chuckles. "Actually, you already do," he says and removes his bandana and glasses. "Pretty good disguise, huh? That could be my new look."

While all of Joey's friends were laughing about the matter, he had to ask, "There's something I don't get, Mr. Muto. Why'd you join this tournament in the first place? You should be resting."

It was true that Solomon begged for the Kaiba brothers to let him join the Grand Championship, but it wasn't just to show off the Ancient Dragon. His second request was to let him duel Joey. "I did teach you everything I know, so I thought it was time to test you."

"And did I pass?"

Solomon rubbed his chin and figured, "Let's see, if I had to grade your duel, you'd get… A+."

"Awesome," Joey cheered. "I aced the test!"

Mokuba and Rebecca face each other. "I guess there's a first time for everything," said Mokuba. His girlfriend nods in agreement.

"Pinch me, because I must be dreaming," said Alister. Valon knew he was being ironic, but he pinched his arm just to torment his friend. "Hey! That was a figure of speech!"

"You know, Yugi," Rafael was saying, "I don't think anyone had more fun than your grandpa did." Yugi nods in agreement.

Joey was still confused about something else. "By the way, Mr. Muto, why'd you enter with the name 'Apdnarg'?"

"It's 'Grandpa' spelled backwards," he replied. Joey still didn't understand. Once again, his friends laughed about the matter.


	5. Girl Power

Girl Power

Now that Joey made it through the first round, the gang could hurry to watch Emily's first duel. It turned out her opponent was going to be Vivian. Yugi and the others had a bad feeling about the duel. To them, Vivian was nothing but bad news. Solomon started to become more than excited. Everyone knew how much he loved dueling, but they warned Yugi's grandfather that if he didn't settle down, he would hurt himself. A little too late for that. Unable to contain his enthusiasm, Solomon ends up throwing his back out.

Yugi didn't want to leave his grandfather, but Solomon insisted that he watched Emily's duel. Arthur decided to be the one to look after Solomon. Even Rafael, Alister, and Valon agreed to help. "Yugi, go cheer for Emily and we'll take care of your grandpa."

"Really, Rafael?"

The blonde nods. "She could really use your support and besides, it's the least I can do after all I've put you through in the past." Yugi gives his thanks and he and the rest of his friends head out to find Emily.

She and Vivian were shuffling their decks near one of the stops of the theme park's train stations. "This duel's gonna be real short and real lame, kinda like you," Vivian tormented. "I was hoping for a real opponent, not some damsel in distress. I admit you're pretty; a pretty little girl who's in way over her head."

"I get it, you were expecting more."

"That's right," said Vivian. "I was hoping for someone like Yugi. He's so commanding, yet sweet and gentle."

Emily had patience and was tolerant, but Vivian being all fangirl was really irritating to her. "Look, Viv, you won't be standing within three feet of my Yugi, is that understood?"

Vivian and Emily finish shuffling their decks and exchange them. "Trust me, angel, when I ace this tournament and become a celebrity, Yugi will forget all about you. I bet he already has."

"Never," Emily growled, and she and Vivian take their positions on opposite sides of the tracks.

"Time to duel!" the girls decree.

Vivian makes the first move by summoning a feminine martial arts warrior named Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan in attack mode. For Emily's first move, she plays Graceful Charity to draw three cards from her deck and discard two from her hand. Next, she summons White Magician Pikeru in attack mode and plays two cards face down.

Just then, Emily heard Joey call out to the others. "Check it out, guys, I found her!"

Emily was happy to see all of her friends, but Vivian squealed and began spouting nonsense. "Hi, Yugi! I knew you'd be here to cheer me on."

"Actually, he came to cheer me on, Viv."

The Asian paid no attention to Emily. "Don't worry, as soon as I trounce this spoiled brat, it's all about you and me!"

Yugi just chuckled nervously. "My hero," said Joey. He said that because he wondered what it was about his best friend that made girls have crushes on him.

Even Tea was starting to become irritated. "This is why I need more female friends!" She shouts. "Come on, Emily! Show that diva no mercy."

Emily nods. "So, are you ready to dance, Viv?"

"Uh, I don't dance with princesses," Vivian smartly stated. Thanks to her special ability, Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan gained 300 extra attack points. But Emily was prepared. Before the fighter could land an attack, Emily revealed her Spellbinding Circle trap to stop her and take away 700 attack points. Now Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan had 1300 attack points and couldn't attack.

Before Emily could take her turn, Pikeru's special ability activated, giving her 400 extra life points. To make it a combo plan, she summons Ebon Magician Curran to join her counterpart. Next, she reveals her second hidden card Crystal Blessing, letting her revive the two Crystal Beasts she gave up when she played Graceful Charity. She got back Sapphire Pegasus and Cobalt Eagle. This activates her Pegasus' special ability, allowing her to summon another Crystal Beast. From her deck, she summoned Emerald Tortoise and summoned him to the back row to join his fellow comrades. To end her turn, she plays two cards face down.

"Awesome," Yugi said as he was watching. "Now Emily's Magicians will raise her life points and decrease Vivian's life points."

"But as long as her Crystal Beasts are in the rear, she can't attack with them," said Joey.

"So, Viv, how does it feel getting beat by a princess," Emily taunted.

Vivian was feeling pretty annoyed. "All right, I'm through going easy on you." She plays Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Emily's Spellbinding Circle, but Emily reveals another trap called Crystal Raigeki. Now she can sacrifice one of her Crystal Beasts to destroy Vivian's magic card. The monster she chose was Cobalt Eagle. Vivian knows she can't attack with Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan and rather than risk a powerful monster, she summons Gyaku-Gire Panda, a beast with 800 attack points. But thanks to its special ability, it gains 500 attack points for every monster Emily has on the field. Now it had 2800 attack points. Knowing Pikeru and Curran don't have any defense points and they're the only monsters Vivian can attack, she sends her Panda to attack Curran. Once again, Emily was more than prepared. She played Magician's Unite. With Pikeru and Curran face up and in attack mode, their powers can unite for a 3000 point attack and destroy the Panda.

Curran's special ability would only take away 300 of Vivian's life points since she had only one monster, but Pikeru would give Emily 1600 additional life points. Now the score stood with Vivian having 3500 life points and Emily having 6000 life points. But there was more to come. Emily summoned Magician's Valkyria. Now all of her spellcasters couldn't be targeted by Vivian's cards thanks to Valkyria's special ability. Valkyria attacks Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan and deals 300 points of damage to Vivian's life points. Curran and Pikeru attack her directly, dealing 2400 points of damage. Now Vivian had 800 life points remaining.

This was Vivian's last chance to turn the duel in her favor. The first thing she does is summon Master Kyonshee and play Monster Reborn to revive Kung Fu Nyan-Nyan to join him. Next, she plays a magic card called Luminous Clouds, letting her sacrifice her two monsters to summon Dragon Lady, a feminine samurai with 2500 attack points. She attacks Magician's Valkyria, dealing 900 points of damage to Emily's life points.

Vivian began to torment Emily once again. "See what happens when you party with the big girls? Maybe you'd have better luck playing Old Maid. But I think the funniest thing about this whole duel was that you actually thought that Yugi came to see you!"

"Oh, like he came here to see you?" Tea sarcastically asked.

Emily exhales and rolls her eyes. "Please tell me you're done. I'd like to win." Vivian stops laughing and asks her what she's talking about. First, Curran takes 300 more of Vivian's life points, leaving her with 500. Next, Pikeru gives Emily 1600 more life points, giving her a total of 6700. She sacrifices Curran so she can summon Dark Magician Girl. Next, she activates Mage Power. Now Dark Magician Girl would gain 500 attack and defense points every time Emily would play a magic or trap card. So she plays another card face down. Now Dark Magician Girl was 500 attack points stronger than Dragon Lady. With her Dark Burning, the mage destroyed the samurai and the rest of Vivian's life points.

"Way to go, Emily! That was awesome!" Tea cheered.

"We knew you'd pull through," said Tristan.

Emily runs up to the bridge to give all of her friends high-fives. "No one comes between me and my friends," she tells Vivian. The Asian just growls, promising herself that this isn't over.


	6. Something to Fear

Something to Fear

Another match had now come to an end. And according to Kaiba's chart, Joey's next opponent would be the winner of the match between Zigfried and a fortune teller named Fortune Selene. But what turned out to be a fortune teller was actually Weevil and Rex in disguise.

"What are they doing here?" Mokuba asked.

Rebecca tightens her eyes. "Acting like complete numbskulls, what else?"

Mokuba was still appointed as tournament commissioner and he had to report any problems. "All right, what did you guys do with the real Fortune Selene?"

They didn't want to tell the truth that they locked him in a broom closet, so they lied and said that the fortune teller asked Weevil and Rex to duel in his place.

Of course, Mokuba and Rebecca wouldn't buy their story. "Nice try, but no one can duel unless they're registered."

But Zigfried told Mokuba to let it slide. "Just let the boys duel. After all, I did wear my favorite suit and I look too good to win by forfeit." But Mokuba couldn't bend the rules. But Zigfried knew how to be persuasive. "Think of your business, Herr Mokuba. You wouldn't want to disappoint your public, now would you? So let me duel these two fools."

Weevil and Rex had been called fools once too many times and certainly didn't like hearing it being mentioned to them again, so they quickly took their positions on the other side of the flower garden.

 _I hope you're watching, Herr Kaiba_ , Zigfried thought as he put his eyes on the camera in the lamp post, _because I have a special show in store for you._ And Kaiba was watching and he didn't trust this man at all. Since the competition started, he's been running background checks on all competitors, wondering which one was out to ruin him.

Weevil makes the first move by summoning Pinchhopper. Next, he plays Eradicating Aerosol to destroy his Pinchhopper and summon Insect Queen in his place. Rex makes his opening move by summoning Balloon Lizard, a bloated reptile with 500 attack points. Next, he activates a magic card called Ultra Evolution, letting him sacrifice his reptile to play a powerful monster in his place. The monster he chose was Black Tyranno, a dinosaur with 2600 attack points. As impressive as their monsters appeared to be, Weevil and Rex weren't permitted to attack on their first turn, but they figured their opponent had a lot to contend with.

Zigfried wasn't intimidated. He was ready to end the match right away. He played a magic card called Ride of the Valkyries, letting him summon the four Valkyries from his hand to destroy his opponent's monsters and all of their life points.

The two delinquents stared in disbelief. "Weevil, tell me that didn't just happen."

"That didn't just happen," he said to his partner. But it did. Zigfried landed a one-turn kill on his opponents. Everyone was shocked and couldn't believe what they saw.

With the first round of the tournament complete, the selected sixteen had now been reduced to the elite eight. Leon was going to be facing an Australian named Ethan, Emily was going to be facing a jungle boy called Abe, and of course, Joey was going to be facing Zigfried.

Emily stopped looking through her cards and told Joey not to get too cocky. "Joey, you should be taking this time to plan out your game strategy. I mean, your opponent is the man who landed a one-turn kill on Weevil and Rex. Aren't you a little bit nervous?"

"The only thing I'm scared of is that hair," Joey said, acting all smug. He began acting tough and was making fun of Zigfried for his style.

"Take it down a notch, will you?" Duke asked. "You're too high strong to duel."

Joey raises his voice and asks, "Who're you calling high strong? I'm cool as a cucumber!" But the truth was, he really was nervous about his match and Tristan began teasing him for it.

"Can you two grow up for like five minutes?" Tea asks as she and Emily try to break them up. But they get shoved away.

This time, the girls raise their voices and complain. "We need more female friends!"

"He started it," Joey and Tristan said in unison.

Emily noticed a troubled expression on Leon's face. "You okay, Leon?"

He decides to be honest and tell her how he feels. "I guess I have a case of the pre-duel jitters. We can't all be as calm and collected as you."

"Come on, even I get scared and can't keep it together sometimes," Emily admitted. "But you can't be so bad if you made it through the first round. You have a good chance of anyone else that you might win."

"But that's just it," Leon tells her. "I'm afraid to win because that means I'll have to face off against Yugi."

"But you said it's always been your dream to face Yugi in a duel," Emily reminded him. "But just take it one duel at a time. We both promised each other that we'd give it our best shot out there. And if you and I win our duels, we'll end up facing each other."

"Well, just make sure you go easy on me, okay, Em? I saw your first duel and you're stronger than you appear to be."

Then Mokuba and Rebecca came in to meet the remaining competitors and have them escorted to their dueling sites. Joey walked up to Zigfried and held out his hand. "Just wanted to wish you luck."

Zigfried denied the gesture. "Unlike you, I don't rely on luck."

Now Joey was really on the verge of losing his temper. "I was trying to be nice. Where I come from, you show your opponents some respect; especially when they're trying to be friends." Zigfried paid no attention. He continued his path down the hall. "Maybe you didn't hear me!" Joey tried to grab his arm, but Zigfried slipped away.

"Don't touch the suit," he said firmly.

"Please stop, Joey," Emily pleads.

"If I were you, Herr Joseph, I'd listen to my little _Fraulein_ friend," Zigfried warned.

"Well, I got news for you, you're not me," Joey shouted.

"True, because if I was, I'd be a worthless street punk with no talent," Zigfried was telling him. "And not to mention appalling taste in clothing style."

That was enough to make Joey snap, but Zigfried decided that enough time was wasted and that things between them would be settled on the dueling arena. Joey stormed off finding his own path because he needed to cool down a little before his match.

As concerned as Emily was about her friend, she had to head out for her duel as well. "Hey, guys, why don't you all go cheer Joey on? He needs your support more than I do."

This was why Tea considered Emily her best friend. She really was the warrior of love and was putting others before herself. "My heart goes out to you," Tea says to give her some encouragement.

"And don't worry, I'll be fighting to the very end just like Joey always does. I'll see you later!"

"Go get 'em, Emily," Yugi cheered, watching her stroll down the hall.

He and the others were about to catch up with Joey until Mokuba said he needed to talk to them. "Have you guys noticing anything strange lately coming from any of the competitors?"

"I don't think so," Yugi answered. "What's going on?"

"Please don't tell anyone," Rebecca begged. "If word of this gets out, it could ruin the whole tournament and the reputation of my Moki's company."

Mokuba nods. "Remember when the duel tech computer went berserk and locked us inside the Kaiba Dome?" Everyone did remember and asked what this was about. After the situation, Mokuba followed his brother back to the central computer when he could monitor all the duels. Kaiba wouldn't be able to relax until the hacker was found. Fortunately, all the systems were restored and the firewalls were reinforced to prevent any more break-ins. But the brunette had a bad feeling that the one responsible for the attack was one of the tournament's competitors.

But after all the background checks, Kaiba still couldn't find any leads on who was responsible for the attack. This was why Mokuba needed Yugi's help. "Please let Becky and I know if you notice anything strange."

"You do realize that strange things happen to us all the time, right?" Tea asked.

Yugi was hoping that this time, things would be different. "I hoped that for once, we would be able to duel in a tournament for the thrill of it and not to stop someone who has plans for domination. Why can't things just be easy for a change? We should be having fun, not hunting down bad guys."

"Don't worry, we'll find them soon," Mokuba assured him. "We're not gonna let some punk ruin this tournament." Everyone else agreed and decided to head out to cheer for Joey from the sideines.


	7. Down in Flames

Down in Flames

Leon was sent to the House of Horror where he would be facing Ethan, Emily was going to face Abe in one of the Ferris Wheel carts, Joey was going to face Zigfried in the Volcanic Pit, and the last duel would be held in the theatre.

The Volcanic Pit seemed like Joey's kind of place and he knew he would enjoy dueling here. As promised, the rest of his friends came to watch and cheer for him. As the duelists were shuffling their decks, Zigfried saw another camera and wondered if Kaiba was onto him yet. It was hard to know what was really making Joey's blood boil; the heat in the pit or his lack of patience with Zigfried. Whatever the reason, he would have a hard time keeping his cool. As for Zigfried, he wouldn't break a sweat.

Joey was already at a bad start. The monsters in his hand were too strong and couldn't be summoned without a sacrifice. All he could do was play a card face down and end his turn. Everyone was afraid Zigfried would land a one-turn kill on Joey like he did Weevil and Rex, but he played Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two from his hand. To end his turn, Zigfried played a card face down. While everyone else was laughing and commenting on the matter, Zigfried decided to change the time on his watch, unleashing a dangerous technological virus.

Everything in the theme park was going haywire. The heat had gone up and lava was violently splashing around, the curtains were opening and closing at the theatre, the Ferris Wheel was going too fast, and it seemed like the House of Horror was haunted for real.

Kaiba was struggling to find out what was causing this mayhem so he could stop it and get things back under control. When he saw that there was a dangerous virus affecting the mainframe, he knew that this was something almost beyond his understanding. _But I secured the entire network after the last attack. There's no way someone could break in again; not even a computer genius_. Then he saw Mokuba holding Rebecca in a protective way. Based on her frightened expression, he knew that his brother's girlfriend wouldn't have the capabilities to unleash a virus of this magnitude. The only person Kaiba knew who could accomplish such a brilliant scheme was himself.

Then Kaiba began to remember something from his childhood. At a party held at his stepfather's estate, Kaiba remembered meeting a child prodigy like himself. He was the son of the president of a foreign company run by the Kaibas' rivals, the Schroeder family. And this young Schroeder dabbled in technology and was a brilliant intellect like Seto. Kaiba wondered, could Zigfried be that same prodigy he met as a kid? He told his associates to run another background check on Zigfried and find out if he had any connection to the Schroeder family.

Finally, Joey was able to summon a good monster. It was Brigadier of Landstar and it was good because his hidden card was Landstar Shot, giving his Brigadier 600 extra attack points, for a total of 1500 attack points. Before Joey's monster could attack, Zigfried revealed his face down card. It was a trap called Wodon's Judgement. Not only would it stop Joey's monster from attacking, but it would allow Zigfried to switch one magic card from his hand for the top card in his deck. After reshuffling his deck, Zigfried could make his move. He plays Pot of Greed to draw two cards from his deck. Next, he plays another magic card called Irda's Guidance, giving him the power of the goddess of knowledge and letting him send one card from his hand to the graveyard in exchange for the trap card in his graveyard.

No one could understand Zigfried's battle methods. It was now the second time that he left himself wide open. But Joey knew how to get past his trap. He sacrificed his Brigadier so he could summon Jinzo. And now that Zigfried's trap was useless, he was wide open to a direct attack.

Now Zigfried was the one getting steamed. "You were much better off when I was ignoring you, but that's over because now you've gotten my attention! Not only will I defeat you, but I'll send you down in flames. It all begins now." The card he draws is the one he used to devastate Weevil and Rex: Ride of the Valkyries. Zigfried plays his magic card and summons four Valkyries all with 1600 attack points. The first was named Zwyte and her special ability allowed her to automatically destroy any one of Joey's monsters and remove it from the game. Three of her were in play, but Joey only had Jinzo on the field. The last Valkyrie was named Irster and she had the power to steal the attack points of any monster that was destroyed. Now her power was equal to Jinzo's.

Joey wouldn't be able to withstand all of their Galloping Gashes. But had he not played a card called Hyper Refresh to double his life points, he would have lost the duel. Now he had 800 life points remaining. To end his turn, Zigfried plays a card face down. Now that his turn was over, so was the effect of his magic card, so his Valkyries had to return to his deck. But everyone had a bad feeling that they hadn't seen the last of those dangerous maidens.

The virus was isolated and the hard drive had now been restored, so Kaiba was ready to initiate the backup system. At the same time, one of his associates came back with some files. "As you requested, Mr. Kaiba, I conducted another in-depth investigation on Mr. Zigfried Lloyd."

"This better be good."

"Our studies show that so far, Zigfried has participated in over fifty tournaments in the last three years, each time ranking in the top five. But our research revealed almost nothing of personal background or family history. Also, there's no record of any connection to the Schroeder family you mentioned earlier."

Kaiba couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So this Zigfried's been winning tournaments around the world and no one knows anything about him?"

"Apparently, he gains entry into these tournaments by receiving letters of recommendation from local politicians."

Kaiba turns around. "Yeah, like who?"

"I've compiled a list of dozens of names, but none were available for comment."

"They just need some incentive." Kaiba asked to take a look at the list his associate conducted. One name in the list stood out to him. "Question that man again and if he still refuses to make a comment, I want you to make him an offer he _can't_ refuse." With that, Kaiba's associate left the main computer and went back to find the man. The brunette turns his attention back to the screen displaying Zigfried's duel. _I've got you by the tail, you rat._

Now that the systems were restored and things were starting to get back to normal, Joey could take his turn. He summons Swordsman of Landstar in attack mode. To protect himself from a direct attack, Zigfried activates a trap called Flicker's Mediation. By taking a card from his graveyard and removing it from play, he was able to stop Joey's attack. To end his turn, Joey plays a card face down.

Zigfried plays a rare magic card called Nebulon's Treasure, allowing him to play Nebulon's Ring on Joey's side of the field. Now as long as Joey's Swordsman would be wearing the Ring, it couldn't attack. Zigfried would also be allowed to draw five cards from his deck this turn. But he decided to explain more about the Ring later. For now, Zigfried played three magic cards, calling upon the three Goddesses of Time: Ird, Virdanda, and Scold. The eldest sister, Scold, used her Scepter of Revelation to show Zigfried the top three cards in Joey's deck and rearrange them to his choosing. As Joey showed him his cards, Zigfried told him to place the second card on top, the last in the center, and the first on the bottom. Now it was time to invoke Virdanda's power. Her Scepter of Guidance allowed Zigfried to guess which card was on the top of Joey's deck. If he guessed correctly, Joey would be force to play it face down on the field. Not very impressive that Zigfried guessed correctly that Joey's first card was a monster considering he put it on top of his deck. The last sister, Ird, allowed Zigfried to guess the identity of what card Joey had face down and if he guessed correctly, the card would be removed from the game. Sadly for Joey, that card was Panther Warrior. Now another one of his best monsters was removed from play.

Before Joey could take his turn, Zigfried activated the power of Nebulon's Ring. Now Joey would be permitted to draw two cards every turn. Plus, if any of the two cards he draws are monsters, then Joey is forced to send them to the graveyard. One of them was Knight of Dark Dragon and Joey was forced to discard it. This was Zigfried's true strategy all along; to devastate Joey and dismantle his deck. Finally, Joey was able to make his move. He played a magic card called Dangerous Machine Type 6. Whatever number would show up on the Machine would decide the event that would happen. Once again, Zigfried invoked the power of the three Goddesses to see the top three cards from Joey's deck. He had them arranged the same way he did before and this time, the card Joey lost was Goblin Attack Force. To end his turn, Zigfried plays a card face down.

Because both of the cards Joey drew were monsters, he had to give them up. But he could still activate his Dangerous Machine. The number landed on a three, letting Joey draw an extra card. After that, he summons Sasuke Samurai, a small warrior with 500 attack points. Zigfried activates a trap called Lotus Flame, preventing monsters with less than 2000 attack points from attacking. It was a good thing Joey's face down card was Graceful Dice. All he needed was a five or a six so he could attack, but the roll of the die resulted in a three. He couldn't attack, but he could still play a card face down. And now that his turn was over, his Samurai had 500 attack points again. Once again, Zigfried rearranged Joey's three cards in his favor and the monster the blonde lost was Gearfried the Iron Knight. After that, he plays a magic card called Swan Maiden, allowing him to summon one of his Valkyries to the field. It was Irster and she was too strong. But Joey was able to protect his monster by playing his Silver Dollar trap card. It had the power to protect any monster with 1000 attack points or less.

The cards Joey got were both spells and he didn't have to discard them. He activates his Dangerous Machine once again. The number lands on three again and Joey can draw an extra card. It was Roll of Fate and Joey was ready to play it. The die landed on a six and Joey got to draw six cards. One card was Giant Trunade and Joey used it to send all magic and trap cards back to the players' hands. This activated Zigfried's trap Apple of Enlightenment. It can only activate when it's removed from the field and it allows Zigfried to draw a card from his deck. And once his Lotus Flame is removed as well, he can summon Valkyrie Brunhilde. She was stronger than the other Valkyries and had 1800 attack points. She also gained 300 attack and defense points for every warrior or dragon in play. Now she was 600 points stronger.

Now that Nebulon's Ring was gone, Joey could use his Swordsman of Landstar and sacrifice it to summon Maximum Six. Using this monster had a dice roll requirement. Whatever number the die would land on would multiply by two and become an additional power boost for the duration of the turn. The roll of the die resulted in a six and now Maximum Six had 3100 attack points. Joey felt like he was having good luck, so he played Star Blaster. Now he has to sacrifice his Sasuke Samurai and its level added with the resulting roll would determine the level of the monster Joey would be able to summon. The roll resulted in a five and added with two for the Samurai's level, Joey could summon a level seven monster; Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Maximum Six tried to attack Brunhilde with his Lightning Fist, but the Valkyrie gave up 1000 defense points to avoid destruction. But because she was in attack mode, Zigfried still lost 700 life points. Red-Eyes attacked the second Valkyrie, causing Zigfried to lose 600 life points and leaving him with his last 100 points. Joey activates his Dangerous Machine Type 6 again, but can't use it until next turn. So he plays one card face down and ends his turn.

Zigfried equips Brunhilde with the Enchanted Sword Northom, giving her 400 attack points. The legend behind the Sword was that it was used as a weapon to slay Dragons, so Red-Eyes was removed from the field and from the game. Brunhilde lost 300 attack points for removing Red-Eyes and now had 2500 attack points. Zigfried plays another magic card called Rainbow Bridge Bythrost. Now Brunhilde would gain 500 attack points for every monster that had been removed from the game. And since Joey lost five monsters, she became 2500 attack points stronger for a total of 5000 points.

Joey decided to give his luck another shot by playing Compensation Mediation. Now Zigfried had to choose two cards from his graveyard and place them on the field with Joey's trap card. If the blonde guesses correctly, then Zigfried is forced to stop his attack. But if he guesses incorrectly, then his opponent can proceed. Joey picked the card in the middle. Sadly, it was the magic card Swan Maiden. Now Brunhilde could carry out her attack and bring Zigfried to victory and send Joey down in flames.

"This can't be," gasped Yugi. "He lost!"

"Herr Joseph, some things in life just never change," Zigfried tells him as he sees him on his knees. "A rose is a rose and a loser is a loser." He turns around and leaves the pit, tossing Joey a rose.

All of Joey's friends approached him. "Big deal," Tristan scoffed. "So you blew the entire tournament on a lousy game of chance."

"I guess you must've just run out of luck," said Duke.

"Nah, Joey wins his duels with talent, not luck," said Tea.

"Oh, so Joey didn't lose because he has no luck. He lost because he has no talent," Tristan said and began laughing.

Joey was sobbing, but his sadness quickly turned to fury. "So that's how you cheer me up? Then it's time for me to spread a little cheer of my own!" And he began chasing his friends around the lava pit. "I tell you, I get no respect at all!"

In the surveillance room where Kaiba was monitoring the duels, the brunette chuckled as he was watching his friends. He was sad that Joey lost, but glad to see his friends going about with their ways. Even Mokuba and Rebecca watched in amusement.

"Joey played a great match," said Rebecca.

Her boyfriend agreed. "And soon, he's going to learn to control that temper of his."

"Probably later," said his brother.

Just then, his associate came back with a new report. "We've conducted our investigation on Mr. Zigfried Lloyd, Mr. Kaiba, and it appears your assumption was correct."

Kaiba takes the report and puts his eyes back on the screen. "Zigfried, your little game's over."


	8. Surprise, Surprise

Surprise, Surprise

Joey still wasn't feeling like he could pull himself together. He felt embarrassed losing to a guy with pink hair. But his friends reminded him that Zigfried was an expert duelist. Joey complained that he should be better because he was a hero of legend. But sometimes, such differences don't matter.

Arthur and the bikers found Yugi and the others leaving the Volcanic Pit. They had shocking news concerning Yugi's grandfather. Solomon made it to the medical ward. Arthur and Rafael left Valon and Alister to look after him while they would find a doctor to examine their friend. Rafael got distracted as he was watching Emily's duel on screen and was cheering for her, but Professor Hawkins reminded him that Yugi's grandfather needed attending to. But when they got back to the room, Solomon wasn't there. Then Rafael heard banging and found his pals locked in the restroom saying they had been attacked.

Rafael blamed himself and said it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been distracted. He said he would do something for Yugi and he let him down. Alister and Valon said it happened so fast and they didn't know who it was that attacked them. Yugi didn't want to miss Emily's next duel, but he couldn't neglect his grandfather. So he asked Professor Hawkins and the bikers to find her and cheer for her while he and the others would look for Solomon.

This was exciting for Emily. She was now a semi-finalist. She saw a chart and checked Joey's status. "Oh, no. Joey lost his duel." She was hoping it would be her against him in the finals for the right to challenge Yugi. "Well, I'm sure he did his best." Now it was time for her to do her best. Leon was her next opponent and she needed to be ready for anything. Emily and Leon promised each other that they would give it their best, but that didn't mean they would go easy on each other.

The site for her match with Leon was in a play park called Small Town. She stood by the entrance waiting for her friends. _Where is everybody?_ She wondered. _I hoped they'd be here to cheer me on._

Then she heard Rafael's voice. "Emily, hey!"

"You guys, you're here," she said cheerfully.

Alister gave her a high-five. "Congratulations, Emily. Now you're in the semi-finals."

She nods. "But where are the others? Aren't they coming too?"

Rafael didn't want to say anything that would worry her. If he did, he knew Emily would be distracted. So he said to her, "Yugi and the others had to deal with a situation right now. But don't worry. I'm sure they'll make it in time."

Valon agreed. "Right now, you've got a duel to focus on."

"Oh, and Yugi asked us to tell you that he's rooting for you," Alister says and winks.

This made Emily's smile brighten up. "He is? I mean, those were his exact words?"

Rafael nods and places his hand over her shoulder. "Now come on. We don't want to be late for your match." And they all begin walking and enter Small Town.

The detail was incredibly striking and the figures looked very realistic. In the middle of the arena, Leon was on the floor waking up from a nap. "I must've dozed off," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I was up all night practicing."

"Hi, Leon."

"Hi, Emily. Looks like we both made to the semi-finals. But where's Yugi? I was hoping he'd be here to watch our duel."

"He'll be here," Rafael was saying, "but he's going to cheer for my Emily."

"And what about your friends and family, Leon?" Arthur asked. The boy answered that no one close to him came to watch him. All his friends lived far away and his family was too busy to watch him duel. But Leon was used to being on his own. But that wouldn't last because he and Emily were surrounded by fans. So the two duelists promised to give them a show.

On the other side of the theme park, Zigfried's match was about to be set underway. His opponent was supposed to be a young magician named Baufreid Ginger, but surprisingly, Max showed up on stage. Max wasn't one of the selected sixteen, but she invited herself to take part in the tournament. Though she knew Kaiba's reputation was bad enough as it was, she figured it would be fun to crash this party. Besides, the tournament was already proving to be interesting to her. Max was surprised that Emily would be a semi-finalist, but she didn't believe Zigfried was all that everyone was saying about him.

Just then, Kaiba came by to set things straight between the two competitors. "Stop the duel," he decreed. "As organizer of the Kaiba Corporation Grand Championship, I declare this match invalid! Both competitors are hereby disqualified!"

All the spectators began groaning about what he said. The bikers were watching from one of the nearby screens and didn't like it either. "He can't rip us off like that!" Valon complained.

"I think he just did," said Rafael.

Zigfried grinned. "Any particular reason for this? Humor me."

"You broke your tournament contract by entering the event under a false name, Zigfried Lloyd," Kaiba tells him. "Or should I say Zigfried Von Schroeder of the Schroeder Corporation?"

Everyone began gasping, wondering if Kaiba was serious. "SchroederCorp?" Valon asked.

Rafael heard that name somewhere before. "Wasn't that a gaming company or something?"

"Actually, it still is," Alister answered. "You just don't hear much about it anymore. Ever since KaibaCorp became number one in the gaming industry, everyone just pretty much forgot about the Schroeders." It was because of the bitterness Alister once felt towards Kaiba that he knew about the rivalry between the two corporations. Alister and his friends even wondered if Zigfried joined the tournament because of this rivalry.

"I never trusted you from the get-go, Zigfried, and my instincts are never wrong," said Kaiba. "It all makes perfect sense. KaibaCorp's biggest rival joins the tournament and suddenly, everything goes haywire. Coincidence? I think not." He focuses his attention on Max and tells her, "And, Max, if you thought you could just invite yourself to take part in my tournament without my authority and turn it into a circus, you thought wrong.

"But since I'm a nice guy, I won't have the two of you arrested for trespassing and fraud. Under one condition: the both of you get out of my life and take your bad hair with you!" The comment was actually supposed to just be meant for Zigfried, but Max felt appalled. "And mark my words, if your overpriced shoes step anywhere near me again, I'll destroy what's left of your pathetic reputations!"

To Zigfried, Kaiba disqualifying him meant that the brunette was scared that his rival had shown up. But Kaiba boasted that he was throwing him out because he didn't like his old rival. SchroederCorp was still in business. Like Alister said, the company didn't get as much attention as KaibaCorp. As for Max, because of her defeats in the past tournaments, her popularity as a celebrity began to diminish. People who were once her fans began to turn on her. But Max didn't barge in to reclaim the fame and glory she once knew. She actually had more humble reasons.

So Max got a better idea. "Let us stay and duel, Kaiba. There's no point in disqualifying the both of us."

Kaiba had a better argument. "It will actually make things easier for me. With this duel invalid, the winner of the duel between Leon Wilson and Emily Briar will proceed to face Yugi Muto."

"Come on, that's not fair," Max complained. "I've come all this way to have fun. Here's my proposal. Let Zigfried and I duel and whoever wins will go to the finals. And the loser will disappear never to be seen or heard from again."

Zigfried certainly liked the idea. He actually felt kind of popular because a lot of duelists who wanted the shot at facing the champion ended up being his opponent. Kaiba changes his mind and figures it would be interesting to see how Max would fare against an opponent like Zigfried. So he agrees to let them duel. With that being settled, the competitors activate their duel disks.

It's usually 'ladies first', but Max was feeling generous and decided to let Zigfried make the first move. He kindly accepts her generosity and draws his card. He got his trump card, but couldn't play it on his first turn because his Valkyries would just go back to his deck afterwards. Instead, he just plays a card face down and ends his turn.

Max looked at her hand and knew this would grant her an easy victory. The first thing she does is play Tribute to the Doomed to discard one card from her hand to destroy Zigfried's face down card, leaving him wide open. Next, she plays Premature Burial to pay 800 life points and revive Red-Eyes Black Chick from the graveyard. Then she sacrifices her Chick to special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon so she can tribute it for another monster.

"It's time," Max was saying. "I shall now bring forth one of the ultimate Dragons of Darkness. Namely, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

"What!?" Kaiba gasped as he heard her say that. Was it possible? Was there an advanced version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon? It would make sense considering there was one for the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. As he saw the red and black Dragon, he wondered if it had the same powers as the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. But how did Max get that card?

As a matter of fact, it did. "For every Dragon in my graveyard, the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains 300 attack points. Now my Dragon has 3000 attack points. But that's not all because I'm enhancing his strength with Dragon Nails. And if you like that, you're gonna love this. I play Megamorph to double my Dragon's attack points." Now Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon grew in strength and had 7400 attack points. "Let's see how you like it when someone beats you in one turn. Attack with Darkness Inferno Fire Blast!" And her Dragon unleashes black fire on Zigfried. "Farewell," Max said as he was engulfed in the flames of darkness. "Or as you would say, _Auf Wiedersehen_."

Zigfried had never felt such power. Not only was he shaking in fear, but he also felt humiliated. He always thought Max was a rank amateur because of her defeats, but he could see that this girl was a fighter. Still, he lost, meaning that he could no longer stay and sabotage Kaiba's tournament. He left the arena, vowing that he would one day have revenge.

Kaiba wanted to disqualify Max for the power she displayed, but couldn't because he agreed to let her stay and continue to compete. Besides, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon was too strong and possessed great powers. Kaiba considered it to be one of the cards Pegasus kept at his disposal and never released to the public. But if the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon was a non-registered card, Max's duel disk shouldn't have recognized it or even displayed a holographic image of the Dragon. He decided to begin investigation on the matter. And whether he liked it or not, Max was a competitor.


	9. A Brawl in Small Town

A Brawl in Small Town

Emily makes the same opening move by playing Graceful Charity to sacrifice two of her Crystal Beasts and draw three new cards. Next, she summons Magician's Valkyria and plays one card face down. Leon summons Forest Wolf, a beast with 1800 attack points. It looked like the wolf disguised as the grandmother from the fairy tale _Little Red Riding Hood_. And like in the fairy tale, the Wolf swallowed Emily's Magician whole, causing her to lose 200 life points.

"What big teeth he has, right," Leon said, quoting from the story. "Well, as the fairy tale goes, the better to devour your Magician with, my dear."

"Hold on, so that's the big bad wolf?" Valon asked as he was watching.

"Wrong story, Valon," said Alister.

It was Emily's turn again and she summoned Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger in attack mode. Thanks to his special ability, the Tiger gains 400 attack points when he's attacking. So he attacks Forest Wolf and decreases Leon's life points by 200. As an added bonus, Emily got Valkyria back. So she used her Magician to attack Leon directly, dealing 1600 points of damage. Next, Emily plays two more cards face down.

Valon and Rafael high-five each other. "Nice," the Australian cheered. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?"

"Not Emily," said Rafael.

"Nice dueling, Emily," said Leon. "You really did learn from the best." He summons Glyph the Phantom Bird, a winged beast with 1500 attack points. It had fewer attack points than Emily's monsters, but when summoned to the field, its special ability destroys one of Emily's spells or traps. The card she lost was her Crystal Raigeki trap card. To end his turn, Leon plays a magic card called Gingerbread House. It looked almost like the witch's cottage from _Hansel and Gretel_. "If you think my fairy tale's good now, just wait until the happy ending."

Emily did find Leon's cards to be interesting and pretty cute. She could see the sense of innocence in her opponent. In fact, Leon was making this duel pretty fun and she was going to make it fun in her own way as well. "I have to admit, Leon, I'm having fun."

"Me too," he tells her. "And you know something? You kind of look like a princess from a fairy tale."

Emily was flattered. "Actually, I get that a lot."

"I'm serious. In fact, if you were wearing a pink dress and a tiara, you would look exactly like Princess Aurora from _Sleeping Beauty_."

"Actually, that's true," Rafael said silently.

As fun as the duel was, it was time to keep playing the game. Emily plays Crystal Blessing to summon Ruby Carbuncle and Amethyst Cat from the graveyard. This activates her Carbuncle's special ability, letting Emily summon them from the spell and trap zone to the monster zone. Next, she reveals a trap called Solar Ray. Since she has two light attribute monsters face up on the field, Leon loses 1200 life points. Now he had 1000 life points remaining. After that, Amethyst Cat uses her special ability to attack Leon directly, leaving him with 400 life points. To wrap things up, Valkyria destroys the Phantom Bird with her Mystic Scepter Blast, causing Leon to lose 100 life points. Finally, Emily plays two cards face down.

Leon was ready to make the duel a bit more interesting. He summons a princess of his own. Namely, Cinderella. She came to the arena dressed in the tattered clothes of a scullery maid, but her fairy godmother appeared and donned her with her ball gown and glass slippers and even summoned Pumpkin Carriage. As long as Pumpkin Carriage was on the field, Cinderella was free to bypass Emily's monsters and attack her directly. Cinderella uses her glass slippers to attack and deal 300 points of damage. Emily still had a good lead with 3500 life points. As an added twist, Valkyria's magic boots were exchanged for a pair of glass slippers. The mage admired them, but there was a price to pay, such as 1000 attack points. Now Valkyria had 600 attack points. Plus, any monster wearing glass slippers can't attack Cinderella. Not that it mattered. The Magician was too weak and an easy target. To end his turn, Leon plays a card face down.

Emily wasn't at a complete disadvantage. There was time to continue to play out the duel. She plays Card of Sanctity, causing her and Leon to draw until they were holding six cards. Now that their hands were full, it was the perfect time to activate another magic card. She played Card Destruction, forcing her and Leon to discard their hands and start over with a clean slate. Next, she switches her Cat, Carbuncle, and Magician to defense mode and plays a field spell called Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. Now depending on how many Crystal Beasts were in Emily's zone for spells would determine the effect that would impact Leon. She didn't have any there yet, but that would change. To end her turn, she sends her Tiger to attack Cinderella. This activates Leon's trap Mirror Force, destroying all of Emily's monsters.

"When a Crystal Beast is destroyed in the zone for monsters, I can place it in the zone for spells and traps. And since I had three in play, my Tiger, Cat, and Carbuncle remain on the field as continuous spells and traps. Plus, I get to activate this trap card Crystal Counter. By sacrificing the three Crystal Beasts on my side of the field, I can summon as many of them from my graveyard back to the field as continuous spells and traps."

"So when you played Card Destruction-,"

"Yup, I sent three more Crystal Beasts to the graveyard. But I can only summon five because of the rules. So I'll bring back five Crystal Beasts." The monsters she brought back were Sapphire Pegasus, Topaz Tiger, Amethyst Cat, Emerald Tortoise, and Ruby Carbuncle. And thanks to the Carbuncle's special ability, they could all come back to the field as monsters. And since Sapphire Pegasus was successfully summoned, his special ability allowed Emily to summon another Crystal Beast. She chose the Amber Mammoth in her deck.

"Of course, once my turn ends, I have to send all of the Crystal Beasts I brought back to the graveyard. But that's all right, because I have a better plan in store."

"Yeah, right," Leon scoffed.

"Don't believe me?" Emily asked. "Well then, I end my turn." And all of her Crystal Beasts left the field.

Leon wasn't sure what Emily's strategy was, but it was his turn. And since a monster wearing glass slippers was destroyed, Cinderella got a new pair and became 1000 attack points stronger. So she dealt 1300 points of damage to Emily's life points, leaving her with 2200 remaining.

Finally, the whole gang was present to watch the rest of the duel. It turned out that what happened was Vivian attacked Alister and Valon and locked them up. What she did was cure Solomon's back in return for a small favor. She used him to lure Yugi into a duel. Who would've thought the diva was this demented? What she was after was a chance to make Yugi her sweetheart. When they came to the site, Vivian made a proposal Yugi couldn't refuse. She returned Solomon's grandfather to the state he was in when he threw his back out. Vivian said she could cure him again if Yugi could beat her in a duel. But if Yugi would lose, he had to take her on a date. Yugi easily defeated Vivian and was able to help his grandpa. A deal was a deal and Vivian cured Solomon's back again.

"No sleepin' on the job, Em," Joey was saying. "With no monsters on the field, it's time to turn things around."

"Don't worry, I've got this match won," said Emily. She faces Leon and tells him, "Now that all seven different Crystal Beasts are present in my graveyard, I can special summon my rarest and most powerful monster."

"What is it?" Leon asked.

"You're about to find out. I summon Rainbow Dragon!" Then a rainbow appeared above the arena and a silver Dragon with seven different colored jewels appeared on the field. Everyone watched in awe.

"What is that?" Tea asked.

"I don't know," Yugi answered.

"Whatever it is, it sure is awesome," said Joey. "And it's got 4000 attack points."

"She's my rarest and if used correctly, my most powerful monster. In order to summon her, I must have all seven Crystal Beasts on the field or in my graveyard. And now the task is done."

"So then… it's over," said Leon.

"It was a great duel, Leon. You played admirably."

"Right back at you," Leon said as he was trying to fight the tears filling his eyes.

"Rainbow Dragon, attack with Rainbow Ray!" A rainbow appears and strikes Cinderella like a laser, causing Leon to lose the rest of his life points. Emily sees the sad expression on Leon's face and asks him, "Leon, are you okay?"

He uses his sleeve to dry his eyes. He manages to smile and say, "Yeah, that was an awesome duel! Congratulations! It was one of the best duels I ever had. I was hoping to face Yugi, but it's okay. We both promised each other that we would do our best against each other. And well, I'm glad I lost to you."

"You'll get another chance someday," Emily tells him. "And who knows? Maybe we could duel again. And again, thanks for a great duel. You were one of the toughest opponents I ever faced."

"Same to you," Leon says as he and Emily shake hands. "And best of luck in your next duel."

"You're a good kid, Leon." Both competitors leave the arena. Some of the kids in the audience were sad that Leon lost, but Leon wasn't feeling too sad about it. He had fun and so did Emily. Soon girls began surrounding Emily asking for autographs and wanting to trade cards. It looked like she was starting to become an idol as she heard her new fans saying they wanted their decks to be like hers.

Yugi gets through the crowd. "That was so awesome, Emily!"

Rafael comes up from behind and starts hugging her. "Way to go, Emily. I'm so proud of you."

Again Yugi started growling and clenched a fist. "Rafael," he growled.

"This is awesome," said Tea. "Now Emily's going to the finals."

"Let's head back to the Kaiba Dome," said Alister. "That's where the last duel is being held."

"I just hope Em's not going to be going against Zigfried," Joey prayed. So the team left Small Town and headed to the Kaiba Dome.


	10. Darkness and Rainbows

Darkness and Rainbows

Emily had to take a separate path from her friends. That was all right. They went to the main gate while she took the passage for challengers. As she was walking down the hall, she met Max. Not that she wasn't happy to see her. Actually, she was more than happy to see her. "Max, you're here. It's great to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Max tells her. "Looks like we both made it to the finals."

Emily was confused. "Wait a minute, Kaiba let you duel? But you weren't one of the selected sixteen."

Max let it slip that she came on her own accord, but not for the championship title or for the glory. Not even to sabotage Kaiba's tournament. "I'm here because of you," she says honestly. "Tell me, what happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened when you faced Dartz and set everyone's souls free," she explains. "Did you use the Millennium Star?" Seeing her nod, Max turns away and sighs, but not out of frustration. She faces Emily again and smiles. "Thank you, for saving my life."

"How could I do anything else?" asked Emily. "You're my friend."

"And I am grateful that you saved me for that reason. But because of what you did, now I feel like I owe you my life. You sacrificed yours to save mine."

"You don't have to do anything about it," Emily insists. "Besides, I came back because I didn't want to leave any of my friends; not even you."

Max began to wonder if she was more than lucky to have a friend like Emily. "You know, you're stronger than anyone thinks."

Emily was flattered. "I guess that's why I'm here." To explain what she means, she tells Max, "I've heard people say that about me, but I guess I have to prove it. Not just to them, but to myself. I still don't know my own strength. If I really am all that everyone says, then I guess I need this to see how far I've come since my journey began."

"I can help you there," Max tells her. "It can be my way of thanking you for what you did. I'll help you to see how far you've come. But don't think that means I'm going to go easy on you. I also want you to give me everything you've got." Emily nods and shakes Max's hand. Together, the girls head out to the arena.

The whole audience cheers as they see the girls taking their positions. Max sits at the red corner while Emily takes the blue corner. Roland gave the crowd a big announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, the KC Grand Championship is proud to present two duelists who've made it all the way to the finals! First, the debonair billionaire, Marvelous Max!" Everyone in the crowd cheered for her. "She'll face the rookie who's one sweet, but tough cookie, Exquisite Emily Briar!" Everyone cheered just as loudly. "One of these two lovely ladies to win will be bound to make a splash when she faces Yugi Muto for the championship crown. That's right, folks, history could be made in the next few hours as we could have a new champion. Now without further ado, let the KC Grand Championship finals begin! All right, girls, let's give KaibaLand a nice clean cat fight!"

Emily and Max walk up to each other to exchange and shuffle their decks. Max grins at Emily and asks, "Scared, Princess?"

Emily grins back and replies, "You wish." After shuffling their decks, the girls take their positions back on the arena. Emily places her deck on the table while Max connects her duel disk to the monitor with a cable. Their life points are displayed and the duel is ready to begin.

"Let's duel!" The girls announce.

"Come on, Emily," Rafael cheered. "Put that witch in her place!"

"I hope Briar will be okay," said Kaiba. "Max holds a very dangerous Duel Monster card."

"She'll be fine," said Joey. "Em's got a super strong Dragon in her deck. Besides, if I can beat Max in a duel, there's no reason why Em shouldn't be able to."

"If that's the case, I want a chance to see this Dragon," said Kaiba. He shouldn't be too concerned anyway. The odds of Max drawing the same first hand are very unlikely.

Leon came by to join the gang. "How's it going, guys?"

"Leon, so you decided to stick around?" Yugi asks.

He nods and says, "I wanted to watch Emily's duel. I hope she'll win. I mean, she's a good duelist, but Max is pretty tough."

"She'll be fine," Joey said again. "Come on, sit and watch with us." So Leon takes the empty seat next to Rebecca, putting her between him and Mokuba.

Emily makes the first move by playing Graceful Charity. She sacrifices Ruby Carbuncle and Emerald Tortoise from her hand and draws three cards. To end her turn, she summons White Magician Pikeru in defense mode and plays three cards face down. Maybe Max didn't get the same cards from her last hand, but she did get a few of them. Like before, she tributes Red-Eyes Black Chick and summons Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Max wasn't ready to attack, so she ended her turn.

 _Pretty clever_ , Emily thought. _She didn't attack, so she didn't fall victim to my face down cards._ Emily didn't witness Max's duel with Zigfried, so she didn't know what to expect. After receiving 400 life points from Pikeru, she reveals Crystal Blessing to revive her Carbuncle and Tortoise, activating her monster's special ability, letting her play them as monsters. Her monsters still weren't strong enough to fight back, so she ended her turn.

Max, on the other hand, knew Emily's strategy. But this was what she needed to carry out her plan. _This is good_ , she thought. _I have to make sure I have less life points and I can work on my strategy. But first, I need to draw my trump card._ _Until then, I'll have to be patient_. Max plays a card face down and summons Harpy Lady in attack mode. _Let's see, decisions, decisions_ , Max wondered. _I could attack Pikeru, but she gives Emily 400 life points for every monster she controls. And if I attack one of the Crystal Beasts, they'll remain on the field as continuous spells and traps. Then again, that's only if she chooses._ With that being settled, Max ends her turn by placing two cards face down.

 _Max isn't putting up much of a fight,_ Emily thought. _Is she that worried about my remaining face down cards?_

"Make your move," said Max.

"When I'm ready," Emily tells her. She draws her card and gains 1200 life points from Pikeru. "I summon Magician's Valkyria in attack mode. And thanks to her special ability, you can't attack any other Magician I have on the field. Next, I reveal my trap card Solar Ray. For every light attribute monster I control, you lose 600 life points. Since I have three, you lose 1800 life points." Now the score stood with Emily having 5600 life points and Max having 2200. To end her turn, Emily plays a card face down.

Little did Emily know that this was all part of Max's plan. "I reveal my first hidden card Harpy's Feather Duster to remove your face down cards. Now your monsters are defenseless. Red-Eyes, attack Valkyria with Inferno Fire Blast!" And her Black Dragon destroys Emily's Magician, dealing 800 points of damage. "Your turn, Harpy Lady! Attack Pikeru!" And Harpy Lady destroys the little mage, dealing 200 points of damage.

Emily still had 4600 life points, which was good. "I sacrifice my Ruby Carbuncle to summon Dark Magician Girl in defense mode. To end my turn, I'll place this face down on the field."

This was the moment Max was waiting for. "I hope you're ready, Emily, because it's time for you to meet my ultimate monster."

"Oh, no," Kaiba gasped. "I was afraid of this. Max is going to summon her Dragon."

"You mean Max has a monster more powerful than Red-Eyes," Joey wondered.

"First, I'll play Graceful Charity to draw three cards from my deck and send two cards to the graveyard." So Max got rid of Harpy's Pet Dragon and Spirit Ryu. "Now watch as I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon to summon my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" Smog covered the arena and a red light was shining inside of Red-Eyes as its outer shell was cracking. From within emerged the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.

"What is that?" Mokuba asked.

"I don't know," Rebecca answered.

"Guys, did Max have that monster in her deck when she was working for Dartz?" Valon asked.

"No, she didn't," Alister answered. "At least, I don't think she did."

"It's the card that rivals the power of the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon," Kaiba explained. "And now I'm starting to think Max got that Dragon the same way I got mine."

Max continues to explain the power of her card. "Since I have four Dragons in my deck, my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gains 1200 attack points. Now it has 3600 attack points. Now I play a magic card called Megamorph. In order for me to double my Dragon's strength, I needed to have fewer life points. So thanks for the help, Em." Now her Dragon had 7200 attack points.

"No way," gasped Emily. "You've been setting me up for this monster?"

"Well, if you think he's scary now, just wait until he attacks. But first, I'm revealing my face down card. Go, Tyrant Wing!" Tyrant Wing gave Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon 400 attack points for a total of 7600 points. Something about the Darkness Dragon made Joey feel hurt. He felt like Freya was being turned into a monster with all that power.

"This is the real challenge, Emily," said Max. "Let's see how well you do against my Dragon. Attack with Darkness Inferno Fire Blast!" And the Emerald Tortoise is engulfed by the flames. "To end my turn, I'll raise my Harpy's attack points with the Rose Whip and attack Dark Magician Girl."

"That Dragon is so powerful," Emily whispered. "I don't have a monster in my deck that can beat it. And I only have two cards in my hand. I guess it's over."

"Don't give up, Emily," Yugi cheered. "You can still win this!"

"But how?" Emily asked.

"You've faced worse monsters than this before," Joey cheered. "That Dragon's just a lizard compared to those guys."

"Fight on, Briar," Kaiba encouraged. "Show me that you've got what it takes to win!"

"Trust in yourself," said Yugi. "And trust in the Heart of the Cards!"

Emily looks at her deck. _My friends are right. I can't lose hope. The odds may be against me, but I believe in my deck_. She smiles and says, "Thank you, Max. You were right, this is the challenge I need. And now that you've set the stage, I'm ready to face it."

"Glad I could help. Now let's go," said Max.

Emily nods and draws her card. _Please, Heart of the Cards, guide me_ , she prays. Looking at the card, she feels like her prayer was answered. "I play Monster Reborn to bring back Dark Magician Girl. Next, I play Mage Power. Now my Magician will receive 500 attack and defense points every time I play a magic or trap card."

"What good will that do?" Max asked in curiosity.

"It'll do plenty. Because the last card in my hand is the Card of Sanctity. Now we must keep drawing until we have six cards." So the girls got new hands. "Now I play Card Destruction!"

"No!"

"That's right. Now we must discard our hands and draw new cards." But this move was beneficial to both duelists. Emily was able to sacrifice her remaining Crystal Beasts and Max sacrificed three more Dragons, giving her Darkness Dragon 8500 attack points. Dark Magician Girl had 3500 attack points and was going to keep growing stronger. "My next card is Soul Release. You know what that means, right? I can remove up to five cards from your graveyard." So Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon lost the 900 attack points it received.

"I'm afraid your Dark Magician Girl still isn't strong enough to face my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon," said Max.

"That may be, but I have another monster for you to fight."

Max's eyes widen. "You don't mean-?"

Emily nods. "Now that all of my Crystal Beasts are in my graveyard, I can special summon Rainbow Dragon!" And the Dragon made a graceful appearance on the arena.

"So that's Briar's Dragon," said Kaiba.

"Aren't you glad you got to see it?" Joey asked.

"It's still not enough," said Duke. "Dark Magician Girl and Rainbow Dragon both have 4000 attack points and Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon has 7600. If it attacks either one of them, Emily will lose."

"She'll find a way," Yugi promised.

To Max and Emily, their Dragons resembled the Great Goddess and the Dark Lord. It was like the Battle of the Gods. "To end my turn, I'll place this face down on the field."

For once, Max was too amazed to know what to do. Her opponent now had two incredible monsters on the field. "Very impressive, Emily, but my Dragon is still the strongest monster in play. But I think I'll have more fun attacking your favorite monster once again." So she orders her Darkness Dragon to attack Dark Magician Girl.

"Big mistake," Emily says, revealing her face down card. "Reveal trap card: Magic Cylinder. Now my trap will absorb your attack and redirect it to your monster. You just destroyed your own Dragon."

"Oh, no!" Max cried. And her Dragon was engulfed in its own flames of darkness.

"Go, Rainbow Dragon! Attack her Harpy Lady with Rainbow Ray!" And the Dragon destroyed Harpy Lady along with the rest of Max's life points.

As the attacks subside, Max lifts her head and smiles at Emily. "Congratulations. You won."

All of their friends were impressed with that last move. Emily managed to pull through after all. The blonde smiles back and says, "Thank you for giving me this challenge, Max. I really needed it."

"Don't let it get to your head," Max tells her. "You may have won the tournament, but you still have a long way to go. Your next duel will really decide how far you've come." And she takes her leave from the arena.

Talk about an amazing experience and an incredible journey. A girl who came to the tournament as a rookie had now completed in first place and was about to face the Duel Monsters champion. It was exciting for Emily, but at the same time, the feeling was starting to change. She laughed as she heard everyone cheering for her victory, but when she faced her friends – especially Yugi, her smile disappeared and she looked down.

Yami and Yugi were both proud of her. "Emily has done well," said Yami. "She's come so far since she started dueling. I don't think she'd be here today if it weren't for you, Yugi."

"Well, maybe I did teach her everything she knows, but I think she gets her confidence from you like I do."

Yami nods and turns his attention back on his daughter. _Emily, I've never been more proud of you than I am today._

She heard his thoughts and was happy to hear he felt that way. At least, she wanted to be, but she didn't feel too sure that she deserved such praise just yet.

"Hey, Emily," Leon said as he approached her. "Awesome dueling out there! I knew you'd pull through!"

"Thanks, Leon," Emily said quietly.

"Hey, are you okay?

She pulls herself together and says, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, I managed to come in first place at my first tournament and now, I'm facing the world champ. Not to mention the one who taught me everything about the game."

Leon began understanding that this was actually personal for Emily. But he had no idea how personal.


	11. More than a Game

More than a Game

"It's time for the match you've all been waiting for," Roland announced to the audience. "The match of the Grand Championship! Featuring our new star, Exquisite Emily Briar! She'll face off against the raving international Duel Monsters champion none other than the King of Games himself: Yugi Muto! This will be a duel to remember!"

The final match was going to take place in the Blue-Eyes Fortress. Mokuba led the gang to the top where they could get the best seats for the duel. Yugi and Emily took separate flights of stairs to the designated arena. As per the rules, competitors couldn't walk down the same path.

"Well, this is it," said Yugi. "But I have to admit, with our title on the line, I'm more than nervous."

Yami assured him that it would be all right. "Just remember to stay focused and most of all, to have fun." Of course, he would be the one dueling. He seemed more calm and excited about the whole thing anyway.

This was supposed to be something that Emily had always wanted; to compete in tournaments and come out on top. But she felt like she had a lot on her shoulders. She wanted to have fun and treat it like a game the same way her opponent would be doing. Why does something so simple have to suddenly turn into something so serious? But it was serious. This last duel would prove how far she had really come as she would show what she learned. At the same time, there would be more personal matters to consider.

Before Emily could pass through, she saw Zigfried standing by the exit. "Lovely day for a duel, isn't it, Herr Emily? I hope you have everything you need."

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to wish you luck and give you this," he says, presenting her with a card.

Before Emily can take the card and look at it, she hears Leon's voice. "No, wait. Please don't do this."

"Leon? You're here too?"

"Please don't give her that card, Zigfried," Leon pleads. "We've already failed and we don't need to drag Emily into this. She earned her shot for the championship title fair and square."

Zigfried grins. "Perhaps you're right. Herr Emily is like a goddess, beautiful and untouched. To make her do something dangerous would mean having to taint and soil such purity and innocence."

Then Emily remembered something. "Zigfried Von Schroeder. You're from the family who's been in rivalry with the Kaibas for generations. You're trying to make me do something to sabotage Kaiba's tournament for when I duel Yugi, aren't you?"

"Well, you're smarter than you look," said Zigfried.

"I won't do it. Kaiba and Yugi are my friends and besides, I have my own priorities."

"Just let Emily duel her way," Leon pleaded again. "She's strong enough and besides, Yugi taught her everything she knows."

Emily faces Leon and asks him, "Leon, what's going on?"

He looks away and apologizes. "Emily, I have a confession. My name's not Wilson. It's Schroeder. Zifgried and I are brothers. We joined the tournament using phony identities so we could sabotage Kaiba's tournament. But then you and Max beat us. You beat me fair and square, but Zigfried felt humiliated and wouldn't give up until the fight was won."

Zigfried grins once more and says it's true. "I was satisfied that you were able to defeat Max. So I figured that perhaps I could use you. But then Leon had to come and stop me. I guess he really does think of you as his friend when I thought all he wanted was to face Yugi in a duel."

"I didn't lie to you about that, Emily. You are my friend and I had fun dueling you. And it's true that it's always been my dream to duel Yugi. And when I lost to you, I thought my dream had been crushed. But you won fair and square and that made me hope that I would get another chance. And because you're my friend, I can't let Zigfried force you to do something terrible. I want you to go out there and duel with honor like you did against me."

Keeping her eyes on Leon, Emily could sense that he was telling the truth. Leon wasn't in it for the rivalry, but for his love for the game until his brother decided he wanted to use him. And if Leon didn't consider Emily his friend, he wouldn't be going out of his way to help her. She manages to smile and tell him, "Thanks, Leon. I trust you." And with that, she walks past Zigfried and through the door.

Finally, the competitors came to the arena only to hear fans cheering for them. Yami and Emily exchange their decks and begin shuffling them. "Best of luck to you," Yami tells her.

"Thanks, and you as well," Emily says as they take their decks and their positions for the match.

Kaiba came to the arena to make one last announcement. Though he didn't take part in the tournament by dueling, he still organized it. But what would happen if he did compete? Would he have defeated Emily and Joey and faced his rival for the title shot once again? "The KC Grand Championship was designed for one thing in mind: to find the only person besides myself to see who deserves to be called the greatest duelist in the world! So these two final competitors will duel to decide just that! Now start the duel!"

"Time to duel!" Yami and Emily declare.

"I'll go first," Emily decided. "I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack mode. And to join him, I'll summon Emerald Tortoise in defense mode. To end my turn, I'll place this face down. Try to get past my monsters."

"Very well, I shall," Yami said, drawing his card. He plays Polymerization to merge Gazelle and Berfomet to form Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast. Chimera attacked Sapphire Pegasus, dealing 300 points of damage to Emily's life points. Now she had 3700 points.

"Nice move," Emily complemented. "You defeated the strongest Crystal Beast in my deck. But remember, when a Crystal Beast is attacked, I can leave it on the field as a continuous spell or trap. And I've got more Crystal Beasts. So get a load of this," she says as she summons Ruby Carbuncle in defense mode.

"It's so cute," Rebecca squealed.

"I can't believe I know this, but isn't that Espeon?" Joey asked, thinking about the psychic Pokémon.

"It's another Crystal Beast called the Ruby Carbuncle," Leon corrected, remembering it from when he dueled against Emily.

"Your move," Emily tells him.

Yami draws his card, but Yugi tells him to wait. "Is something wrong, Yugi?"

"Look at Emily's eyes," he tells him. "Don't you detect a bit of sadness in them? It's like she's trying to have fun, but something's holding her back."

Yami did look and he saw that his partner was right. "She does seem a bit troubled."

"Do you think the pressure's gotten to her?"

"I don't know, but the duel must go on." Yami summons Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and attacks the Ruby Carbuncle.

"Nice one, Yugi," Tristan cheered. "I never liked that Pokémon anyway."

"Don't celebrate just yet," said Leon. "Each Crystal Beast has its own unique twist."

And he was right. Just when Chimera was about to attack, Emily revealed her face down card. "I reveal my trap card Crystal Raigeki. Now I sacrifice Ruby Carbuncle so I can remove Chimera from the field." With Chimera gone, Yami ended his turn. Emily played a magic card called Crystal Beacon. Since she had more than one Crystal Beast in the zone for spells and traps, she could summon another Crystal Beast from her deck and she chose Amethyst Cat. "My Cat has the ability to bypass your monster and attack you directly. But the damage you receive only comes out of half of her attack points. So when I attack, you'll lose 600 life points." And the Amethyst Cat pounced on Yami and landed an attack, leaving him with 3400 life points.

"Something doesn't seem right," Rebecca said as she was watching. "Emily's being fun and serious all at the same time. It's like she's trying to be one thing and another all at once. There's nothing big on the line for her and I don't think she really wants the championship title."

Hearing Rebecca's words and sensing her opponent's thoughts, Emily decides to come clean. "Before you make your move, I have something to confess. I'm more than excited to have come this far in such a big tournament, but I don't feel it yet. And I won't have really won until I've beaten you. I want to do it for fun, but there's a lot of personal stuff on the line for me."

"Is that what this is about?" Yami asked. "To prove your own strength?"

"Well, that's partly the reason. But mostly it's because of a promise I made long ago." When Emily and Yugi were young and first started learning how to play Duel Monsters, they both dreamed of one day being great duelists. Emily would come home every day to show her mother the new cards Yugi gave her. She dreamed of one day competing in tournaments and becoming a champion. Her mother promised that she would watch and cheer the loudest for her daughter.

But it wasn't to be. Emily's mother was killed on her doorstep one cold summer night. This forced Emily to live in the middle of the states where her father resided. He didn't understand Emily the same way his ex-wife did and he certainly didn't take kindly to her passion for the game. For disciplinary reasons, he took her toys and games so she could focus on her studies. The only thing he didn't take were the Duel Monster cards Yugi gave her and the more she looked at them, the more she dreamed of one day being reunited with her friend.

And that dream came true in its own unusual way. Emily was disowned by her father and sent to live back home in Domino. But would anyone call that fate? Whatever it was, Emily was happy to be free from her father and grateful to be back home. For once, she felt like she belonged somewhere with someone for the first time in so long. And she went on so many incredible journeys with her friends.

"I didn't forget my promise," continued Emily. "Now that I'm finally here, I can fulfill my dream. But I can't enjoy myself. I know my mom is with me in spirit, but it doesn't feel right to not be able to see her smile or even hear her cheering me on. More than anything, I wish my mom could be here."

"What does she mean?" Yami asked.

Yugi finally understood as he began remembering the days he and Emily shared together and how they had to say 'goodbye'. "Her mother was a kind lady and very supportive; like a best friend. When she died, Emily lost more than a mother. Like anybody else, Emily wants to make her mother proud by fulfilling the promise she made."

"I know I should be dueling for my love for the game, but after every challenge I've faced, this is serious to me. I want to have fun, but I don't want to forget what I'm fighting for. At the same time, I don't want to end up fighting for the wrong reasons or even lose sight of what's important. I mean, I didn't realize how important this duel was to me until now."

Everyone was intrigued by Emily's story and felt their hearts going out to her. But this was only half of the problem. She would have other reasons for needing this duel. "Emily, look at yourself," Yami was telling her. "You've come a long way since your first journey. You've had everyone's support and you believed in yourself and now you're here." He stops speaking and tells her mentally, _And as your friend and your father, I'm proud of you. And your mother would be too. She would also want you to have fun._

Listening to his words, she manages to smile and tell him, _You're right. And that's what I'm going to do. But I'm still going to do my best in this duel._ "Thanks, I needed that." She winks and tells him, "You're a pal. Now it's your move."

Totally not the attitude anyone was expecting. "Emily sure pulled through that one fast, didn't she?" Valon asked.

Tea wasn't too surprised. "That's our Emily. She has a big heart."

Rafael nodded in agreement. "That's why I love her."

Kaiba had to admit, his friend certainly had come a long way since he first met her. Then he wondered if that was the true reason behind this match. "You know, I think out of all the duelists, Briar needed this challenge more than anyone else." As everyone looks at him in confusion, he explains his reasons. "Yugi taught her everything she knows about the game. Now it's time for her to show him how much she's learned. She may have earned her place to get where she is, but now it's time for her to prove her strength."

His friends agreed with him. "You got a good point there, Kaiba," said Joey.

"But there's more," continued Kaiba. "Briar's opponent isn't just her teacher. She's also dueling the pharaoh. I think he needs to be part of this challenge as well. During the times I've watched Briar duel, I've seen her display the same courage and determination her father has. She's learned as much from him the same way Yugi has; and she's learned as much from Yugi too. Briar may take after her mother, the queen, but she is also her father's daughter. And I guess that makes her the princess of games."

"But they're so-" Rafael started.

Kaiba interrupts him and asks, "What? They're so different because Emily's gentle and compassionate and the pharaoh's assertive and confident? Sure, they're their own person, but I think they've been able to benefit from one another. While it's true that Briar shares most of her mother's physical appearance and caring spirit, she has her father's strength and determination. I guess it runs in the blood, but at the same time, it's because she has a big heart and cares too much that she fights for all the right reasons and manages to find her strength. And the pharaoh has learned as much from his daughter. He knows a part of him lives inside of her and through her, he's able to see it."

"Hold on," Alister was saying, "are you saying they complete each other?"

"I'm saying this is a fight that will determine if Briar is anything like her father and not just like her mother. But that last suggestion could be too."

Listening to Kaiba's words, Yami was more than amazed. Even he had come such a long way and has now begun to think with his heart more than his head. At the same time, Yami knew that Kaiba was right. "He's telling the truth, Emily. You and I have been able to learn and benefit from one another." As she looks at him directly, he continues and explains, "When I look at you, I get an idea on the kind of person your mother was. At the same time, I'm also able to see a part of me; a part I thought I lost some time ago."

"Because deep down inside, I'm just like you and you're just like me," Emily said, agreeing with her friends. "We're both devoted and have strong hearts."

"Yes. Each of us has given the other a gift."

"Like courage and determination," said Emily.

"And love and understanding," Yami added. "And our duel will decide how alike as well as separate you and I are." They didn't exclude Yugi. Even he learned as much from them and was able to give back as much. Yami plays a card face down and summons Queen's Knight to attack Amethyst Cat, causing Emily to lose 300 life points and bring her down to 3400. To end his turn, Yami plays a card face down.

Right now, Emily had three Crystal Beasts in the rear and no monsters to fight with. Now was a good time to activate her magic card Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins. As its name suggest, the ancient field for the Crystal Beasts appeared behind her. "My Crystal Beasts have had enough, so I'll keep them at bay and summon a different kind of monster. I play Magician's Valkyria. Attack Queen's Knight with Mystic Scepter Blast!" The mage prepares to attack, but Yami reveals his trap card Mirror Force. But Emily was ready. "Since I have three Crystal Beasts in my spell and trap card zone, I can activate the power of my Ancient City." She sacrifices Sapphire Pegasus to deactivate Mirror Force. "All I have to do is sacrifice a Crystal Beast. Then I can stop the activation of a spell or trap card you control and destroy it." With Mirror Force gone, Valkyria could resume her attack and destroy Queen's Knight, dealing 100 points of damage, leaving Yami with 3300 points.

"Well done, Emily," Yami complemented.

"Thank you," she tells him. "My Magicians always come through for me. In fact, when I started living with my dad and felt so far apart from everything I knew, my Magicians seemed like the only friends I had." When her father didn't understand her and she got bullied a lot at school, Emily turned to her Duel Monsters for love and support and they were there for her. "When I was young and started learning about the game, I wanted to be a performer. Singing, dancing, theatre, magic, anything. But my most favorite kind were the magicians. I thought it was so cool that they could to extraordinary things like making people and objects disappear and bending the forces of nature. And I wanted to have that kind of talent." And Emily began recalling the amateur magic shows as well as performances she put on for her friends and family. Even Yugi had fun.

"Then when I started collecting cards, I saw the Magicians and they were my most favorite. Their enchanted powers made them seem so real like their magic brought them to life. And as crazy as it sounds, I felt like I was able to see them and speak to them because they were there. When I felt alone and scared, they gave me strength and comfort. And they still support me even today. And because I loved them all so much, I refused to let anyone take them from me. I'm thankful to all of my Magicians for all that they've done for me and we're going to stay together." Hearing Emily's kind words, Valkyria smiles at her.

Everyone was touched. "I must admit, Emily has a strong sense of devotion and respect for her cards," said Rafael. "She even built the perfect assortment of spells, traps, and monsters."

Solomon nods in agreement. "And we both know that that's the mark of a true duelist."

"I'm not done yet," said Emily. "Next, I'll place this card face down. That ends my turn."

Yami plays Pot of Greed to draw two cards from his deck. "Oh, well. Unfortunately for you, I drew this."

"It's Watapon," Emily said, looking at the card's image. She remembered that Watapon's special ability allowed Yami to special summon it when added to his hand by the effect of a monster, spell, or trap card. But it wouldn't be on the field for long because Yami was going to sacrifice it to summon Dark Magician Girl. Emily was more than surprised.

"Do you know why I summoned Dark Magician Girl?"

"I've got to guess," Emily replied.

"Well, I know how much you love Magicians and I remembered that this one is your favorite. You even compared yourself to Dark Magician Girl many times before."

Emily chuckled at that. "I know, I always thought we were like twins." But her smile fades away as she wonders. "Is this some sort of challenge? Because me facing my favorite monster almost seems like having to fight a piece of myself."

"You could say that," said Yami.

"Well then, I accept," she decided. The truth was she didn't want to fight against Dark Magician Girl; not after all that the two had been through together. But this would actually be necessary. Emily would have to fight this part of herself to move ahead. Dark Magician Girl attacks Valkyria, dealing 400 points of damage to Emily's life points and leaving her with 3000 points.

It was Emily's turn again and she drew her card. "Well, what do you know? It's the same card you drew. Some would call that coincidence, but I call it fate. I play Pot of Greed to draw two cards. Next, I play Crystal Blessing to bring back Sapphire Pegasus and Ruby Carbuncle. But rather than use my Carbuncle's special ability to move my Crystal Beasts to the field, I'll keep them where they are. Now that I have four Crystal Beasts, I can draw an extra card. To end my turn, I'll summon Rapid-Fire Magician in attack mode and attack Obnoxious Celtic Guardian." So the Magician attacked and dealt 200 points of damage to Yami's life points.

"It's still a close match," said Duke. "But it looks like Emily's got the upper hand. As long as her Crystal Beasts are in the rear, her life points are hard to damage. And it'll be a matter of time before she summons Rainbow Dragon."

"But don't forget, to do that, Emily's got to have all seven different Crystal Beasts on the field or in her graveyard," said Leon. "She has four on the field, so I guess the remaining three are still in her deck.

It was Yami's turn again and he had Dark Magician Girl attack Rapid-Fire Magician and deal 400 points of damage. To end his turn, he plays a card face down. It was Emily's turn again and thanks to her Ancient City, she got to draw an extra card. First, she plays Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two. "I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger. And thanks to his special ability, he gains 400 attack points when he's attacking. So go, my Tiger. Attack Dark Magician Girl." Now the Tiger's attack points are equal to Dark Magician Girl's, resulting in a stalemate. "Now I have five Crystal Beasts. Two more and I can summon my Dragon. But for now, I'll play a card face down."

Yami plays Premature Burial and gives up 800 life points to revive his Queen's Knight, leaving him with 2300 life points. After that, he places two cards face down and activates his Card of Sanctity. Now he and Emily have full hands. Yami summons King's Knight and now that he's on the field with Queen's Knight, he can summon Jack's Knight to join them. And now that his three Knights are in play, he can activate the magic card Royal Straight. By sacrificing his three Knights, Yami summons a powerful warrior called Royal Straight Slasher. It came to the field with 2400 attack points.

Royal Straight Slasher had the ability to destroy all of the opponent's cards. But first, Yami had to sacrifice a monster of each of the first five levels. The first monster was Kuriboh, followed by Old Vindictive Magician, Giant Soldier of Stone, Big Shield Gardna, and Curse of Dragon. Now Royal Straight Slasher could destroy every card Emily had on the field. And because Topaz Tiger was in attack mode, Emily lost some of her life points. To end his turn, Yami played Time Travel, a magic card that removed his Royal Straight Slasher until Emily's turn.

"That was impressive, I must admit," Emily was saying. "But your maneuver helped me out too. I may have lost all the cards I had in play, but you made my strategy easier for me. So thank you."

Yami's eyes widened. "Do you mean-?"

"I'm not there yet, but I will be once I play my card," she tells him. "But first, your Time Travel card expires, allowing your Royal Straight Slasher to return to the field. Now I can take my turn and play this; Card Destruction. Now we must discard our hands and draw new cards. So when you played Card of Sanctity, you allowed me to fill my hand. Now I get six new cards. And now all seven Crystal Beasts are in my graveyard, which means I can summon Rainbow Dragon. Attack with Rainbow Stream!" And the Dragon attacks Royal Straight Slasher, dealing 1600 points of damage and leaving Yami with 700 life points.

"All right, it's your move," said Emily. "You're really going to have to pray for the Heart of the Cards to see you through now that my Dragon is on the field. But hey, win or lose, this was a great duel."

Yami smiles and nods. "And remember, Emily, whether you win or lose, I'll always love you. And so will the rest of our friends." And he and Emily look up and see them smiling and winking. Yami draws his card. "You've fought well, my love, and I couldn't have asked for a better opponent. But this ends now!" Emily's eyes widen and she gasps. The first thing Yami does is play a card face down. Next, he plays Emergency Provisions and destroys his card so he can receive a thousand life points. "Now I'll play Monster Reborn to summon a monster you know; my Dark Magician!"

"But I never sent him to the graveyard!"

"No, but I did when you played Card Destruction. So you helped me in return and I thank you. For now I can play my Necromancy magic card, summoning four monsters from your graveyard to your side of the field in defense mode." The monsters summoned were Magician's Valkyria, Rapid-Fire Magician, White Magician Pikeru, and Ebon Magician Curran. Emily remembered that any monster summoned by this magic card and destroyed would cause her Dragon to lose 600 attack points. But the card she really had to be afraid of was Yami's Diffusion Wave-Motion. For the price of 1000 life points, Dark Magician would instantly destroy all of Emily's monsters.

"So then, it's over," Emily said, trying to hold back her tears. "I lose." And Dark Magician destroys all of her monsters and the rest of her life points.

The attacks finally subside and the holograms are gone. Emily falls on her knees and places her hands against the ground. Yami approaches her and smiles. "Well done. I'm proud of you. You fought with honor and never gave up."

She looks up and faces him with tears. "Oh, Father. I… I…" Unable to contain her emotions, she starts crying and hugs him.

"There's nothing to cry about," he says, holding her.

"Yes, there is," she protests. "I'm too weak. I was so caught up in the past; I almost forgot what was important. When I dreamed of one day being great and making everyone proud, in the end, what I really wanted was to be just like you. My hero, my father."

"Emily, you've proven your strength and you never lost sight of what was important to you. You fought with everything you had and you even had fun. If your mother were alive today, she would be just as proud of you as I am."

Emily eases her grip and tries to relax. "But I still have a long way to go before I can be like you."

"But you already are in so many ways," Yami tells her. "I already said it, you and I carry a part of one another and it will take the both of us far."

"Thank you, Father," Emily tells him. She manages to smile, but only for a brief moment as she starts crying again.

As touching as it was for everybody, it was time to wrap things up. The tournament had now come to a close and Yugi was still the undisputed champion.


	12. Going Home

Going Home

With the KC Grand Championship at an end, friends and rivals were finally saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways. "Here, Emily, this is for you," Leon says, giving her a white rose. "I'm sorry for what happened back there before your duel started. I hope after all you've discovered, you can forgive me."

"No hard feelings, Leon," Emily tells him. "You were the honest one. And I wasn't mad at you. I just had a lot on my shoulders. But you found that out when you watched me duel Yugi. And hey, maybe someday, you'll get to duel him too."

"I'll be looking forward to that. And I'll look forward to dueling you again someday too."

"You bet. Friends forever?"

"Friends forever," Leon says in agreement, shaking Emily's hand. Meeting Emily and dueling her and watching her duel has really influenced him. He's learned to never give up and to never lose sight of what's important. Now he and his brother would be going home to make their company the best it can be.

"That was fun," said Emily. "But with the end of one adventure comes a whole new story."

"Let's not drag this out as goodbye, because we'll be back in your neighborhood soon."

"Cool. Why's that, Alister?" Joey asked.

"We found a nice spot close to your school and we're thinking about moving into town," Valon tells them. "We can really start over and be friends."

"That's awesome," said Duke. "And I'll be back too because I've got a date with Serenity." Tristan and Joey began strangling him.

"Not my sister," Joey growls.

Valon was interested to hear that. "I didn't know you had a sister, Joey. Think you could introduce me sometime?"

"Valon," Joey growls. "Don't you get any ideas too." Seeing the boys getting along like this made Arthur and Solomon wish they were young again.

"Moki, don't forget, you promised to email me twice a day and come visit me every weekend," said Rebecca.

Mokuba nods and adds, "And I still owe you that first date. So until next time, okay, cutie?"

"Bye, schmoopie," Rebecca said and began hugging him.

Rafael turns his attention to Emily. "Speaking of first date, I'll remember to take you out once the guys and I get settled in. Until then," then he places a small piece of paper in her hand.

Yugi takes it and reads the contents. Rafael had given her his phone number. "Yeah, like she's ever going to call you, Raf."

"It could happen," Rafael tells her. "And I'm going to miss you too, Yugi."

"Yeah, I'll bet," he growls, trying to smile.

Kaiba shows up and asks them what's going on. "What are you guys doing? I hook you up with one of my best jets and you don't have the courtesy to board on time?" Hearing that, the gang picks up their luggage and hurries to the gate.

Once everyone enters the jet and takes their seats, Emily faces Yugi and asks him. "Well, Yugi, since you're still the Duel Monsters champion, what's next?"

"Well, the sky's the limit," he says, looking out the window as the jet ascends from the ground.


End file.
